Arcadia Academy
by DancingQueen21
Summary: Aki has dreamed of the perfect haven for psychic duellists. She's managed to make that dream a reality and has recruited a handful of psychic teenagers to attend her newly built school; Arcadia Academy. Mainly an OC story. OCs closed. First Arc: Soul and Spirit. Can the Spirit live without the Soul? Can the Elements thrive without the Spirit? Guide them on their path, Aki...
1. PrologueSummaryWhatever

So, I'm thinking of doing a new fic, since I'm kind of not feeling the vibes with A New Beginning anymore. I have enough for another chapter written out, it's just not growing on me anymore. I'm kind of tired of it. Maybe I could redo it?

Anyways, I like the idea of an academy fic, I like psychic duellists, and I kind of want to give an OC fic a shot. So how about 'Arcadia Academy'? Submit some OCs that are psychic duellists, I'll make a roster, write out a first chapter/prologue type of thing and if it gets a good response I'll try to continue it. I'm going to be really busy since this is my last year of high school, but I'll manage. I love fan fiction too much!

So please submit your OCs with this basic outline:

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Appearance:

Personality:

Back Story:

Psychic power:

Other (anything you feel is important to mention that doesn't fall under any other category):

I'm warning you all, there wont be many duels if any in this fic. I'm not good at writing duels at all. May need some assistance on that.

Please PM me your OCs!


	2. Chapter 1: Recruiting

So here's the little prologue I promised. I'm still accepting submissions, it's just that they won't be as prominent in the story as the characters that have already been submitted. Anyways, on with the prologue!

Recruiting

Aki stood in the front foyer of her freshly built school, an air of pride waving over her features as she scanned the room. This was her creation. This was her pride and joy. This was her triumph over modern society and it's judgemental views on psychic duellists. This was going to be the haven for all psychics.

This would be their home.

She took in a deep breathe, taking in the smell of fresh paint and cleaning product, and actually enjoying the smell for the first time in her life.

Yusei entered the foyer, grabbing Aki's attention as he made his way over to her.

"You did it." He said with a congratulatory tone.

"I did it." Aki beamed back at him. Her smile was broad and gleaming, perhaps the biggest, happiest smile she had ever produced in her life.

"So when does the term start?" Yusei asked, purposely giving fodder to Aki's glee.

"Two days. I've recruited some of the top psychics in the city for this school. They'll be staying in the east wing where the dorm rooms are. They've been divided into age groups for their classes instead of ability." Aki explained as the two signers started to walk down a hallway.

"That's the better way to divide them." Yusei commented.

"Exactly. That way, if the lower able students get to work with the higher able students, they have a chance to learn from them and average out. They grow together." Aki elaborated.

"So what's the staff like?" Yusei asked.

"Well, you already know that I'm the Chancellor and the psychic abilities teacher. There's you as the physics and mechanics teacher, which you also know. I have Carly Nagisa as the English and Creative Writing teacher. Jack as the History teacher-"

"Jack as the History teacher!?" Yusei exclaimed.

"I had to find some way to make the subject more interesting!" Aki joked, making Yusei chuckle a little. "Crow is the Home Economics teacher, and he and Jack both begged me to let them teach Foods. Bruno is teaching Math and Chemistry. Sherry has agreed to teach French for the year. Ushio is teaching Gym and Law. Mikage is teaching Gym as well, and she also asked for Business. I still need to figure out the Geography, Biology, Art, Drama and Music teachers though. You, Jack, Crow, Sherry and I are going to collaborate on the Duelling classes." Aki finished.

"I could teach Biology if you need." Yusei offered.

"Thank you, Yusei. I appreciate the offer, I left those five subjects for next semester though, so I could have time to find the appropriate teachers for them. If I can't find anyone who specializes in Biology though, I think I may have to take you up on the offer." Aki admitted.

Yusei nodded in understanding. "So who's attending here?" Yusei questioned.

"So far we have about 20 students. I know it's not a lot, but it's a start. I'm hoping that people will here about this school and possibly apply here into the term or apply for nest semester." Aki answered with a smidge of disappointment.

The halls echoed for a few moments as the two continued to walk about the empty school. They remained in silence for a few moments before Yusei tried to cheer Aki up.

"Tell me about your students."

Aki perked up a bit at the demand and started to beam again. "I think we have some promising young psychics! The first person I recruited was an interesting individual…"

/

A girl sat on a bench in the Neo Domino park, staring at the pond in front of her where fish were swimming about and ducks were waddling along. She had very pale skin and long white hair, tinted with pink and done in a braid that reached down her back. Her hazel eyes glistened as she watched a family of ducks travel around the pond together, a mother duck leading four ducklings toward the water. She continued to watch them as they glided into the pond, except for one. It seemed afraid or unsure maybe, of the water. The duckling hopped in after a few moments, but immediately splashed and waddled out of the water, too afraid to go any further into the pond.

Aki approached the bench the girl was sitting on and sat down, observing the duckling as she settled herself next to the girl.

"They're cute, aren't they?" Aki commented as the duckling flapped it's feathers dry.

"Mm." The girl responded.

"Not much of a talker, are you Hino?" Aki inquired, turning to face the girl.

The duckling started to shiver a bit from portions of it's body still being wet and cold.

"How do you know my name?" Hino asked calmly, as if she already knew the answer to her question.

"Your parents. They told me you might be here, on your own." Aki admitted, leaning towards the girl a little as she spoke.

Hino didn't even flinch. "What would you like from me?"

"I'm opening a school for… special duellists. Duellists with unique talent and abilities, like myself. I'd like you to attend." Aki explained.

Hino watched the duckling family as she pondered the offer. The mother duck approached the scared duckling and huddled it in her wing to keep it warm.

Hino looked over to Aki, finding comfort in the older woman's eyes and friendly smile. _How could a psychic seem so… normal?_ "Alright… I'll come to your school."

Aki's face lit up tenfold as she grabbed Hino's hand gently, almost motherly. "Wonderful. I look forward to teaching you. I promise, you won't regret coming to Arcadia Academy!"

Aki stood and bowed her head slightly before turning and waving as she left Hino to her peaceful pond watching. Hino blinked a couple times as she watched Aki walk away.

Hino returned her attention to the duck family and watched the mother duck guide the duckling into the water. They swam together for a while before the duckling parted and started swimming on it's own, no longer afraid of the water.

No longer afraid to brace the tide.

/

"Hino Kizana? I've never heard of her." Yusei admitted after hearing Aki's story.

"She was at the top of her class at Duel Academy for two years running before she faltered a little at age 14. Ever since then she's hovered around fourth-fifth in her class." Aki elaborated.

"How old is she now?"

"16, and definitely dresses that way." Aki answered.

"What do you mean?" Yusei inquired.

"Let's just say, it's obvious she's a rock fan. I'm not sure if she has a stabilizer for her powers yet though, I'll have to look into that soon. Maybe I can get her one with Pink Floyd on it or something?" Aki teased the psychic behind her back.

Yusei gave a little smile before continuing. "Who else stood out for you?"

Aki froze mid-stride as she recalled the most… frightening encounter she had…

/

"XERXES! THERE'S A WOMAN AT THE DOOR FOR YOUR!" A little girl shouted after Aki introduced herself at the door.

A young girl with ice-blue hair and different coloured, tired eyes came down the steps to the front room of the building she and a bunch of other orphans were living in. She was extremely pale and had elf-like ears. Though her home and fellow orphans seemed warm and welcoming, she seemed quite the opposite.

"Thank you." Xerxes said to the little girl dismissively. The girl ran off to another room as Xerxes approached the door. "Who are you?" she asked coldly.

"I'm Aki Izayoi." Aki replied, losing her friendly smile.

"And what do you want, Izayoi?" Xerxes asked, not seeming too interested in the answer.

"I'm here to invite you to attend Arcadia Academy this fall." Aki answered, matching Xerxes' chilly attitude.

"Not interested." Xerxes quickly shot as she went to close the door.

"It's a school for psychics." Aki gave at slightly louder volume, hoping it would catch the teenager's attention.

Xerxes froze for a moment, staring hard into Aki's eyes. For a moment, Aki felt herself tremble under Xerxes' gaze, fearing a little for her life and completely forgetting she could easily defend herself with her powers. Just the younger girl's gaze had Aki fearing the worst. Was it such a good idea inviting this girl to her school?

It dawned on Aki though, that this girl resembled herself at that age significantly. Aki stood her ground and stared just as hard in return. Xerxes seemed to relax a little after Aki intensified her gaze.

"When do I start?"

/

Aki entered the Neo Domino Hospital emergency room to find a pale boy with brown eyes and long black hair wrapped up in a ponytail sitting quietly in the waiting area, eyes wide as the sea. He wore a white shirt with a blue vest over it and black jeans. In one hand he held a pair of white goggles, covered in patches of dirt, like the rest of his clothes and face.

Aki approached the boy cautiously. She had seen him duelling minutes ago and had witnessed something she knew she shouldn't have.

Feeling a sense of obligation, knowing his situation all too well, she followed him to the emergency room.

She knelt down next to the shock-stricken boy and put a hand on his shoulder. The boy quickly looked to his arm upon the contact, then looked to Aki, his eyes remaining wide with shock.

"Are you alright?" Aki asked gently.

The boy slowly nodded. "I… think…"

Aki nodded slightly. "Okay. What's your name?"

The boy stared for a few moments before answering. "Takeshi…"

Aki nodded again. "Alright, Takeshi. Do you know who I am?"

The boy nodded slowly. "Izayoi…" he whispered.

Aki nodded assertively. "I can help you, Takeshi. Do you trust me?" she asked, taking her other hand and gently squeezing his free one.

Takeshi looked down at his hand, to his arm, then back at Aki before her slowly began to nod. "Yes…"

Aki smiled sweetly, installing trust between the two psychics. "Come with me." She instructed as she slowly stood up, bringing him up with her and putting her arm around him while keeping hold of his hand. She guided him out of the emergency room and toward the new school she had built.

"I have a new home for you."

/

Aki and Sherry were having a small brunch at Jack's favourite café. They were waiting for a relative of Sherry's to show up to the small outing.

"I'm sorry Aki, she should be along any minute." Sherry tried to assure the up-and-coming Chancellor.

Aki stirred her tea anxiously as they waited for Sherry's cousin's daughter to arrive. _My first recruiting, and the psychic doesn't show!_

All of a sudden, a young french girl entered the fenced in area of the outdoor café. She had extremely long blue-black hair worn loose under a red beret. She was extremely pale and skinny and had large, round, indigo eyes that were positively captivating. Her lips were very prominent, they were a very dark red, which wasn't natural. She was obviously fashionable, wearing a black top with a black, knee-length skirt that had white poke-a-dots on it and a red blazer overtop the black shirt. She wore black converse, which gave the look a dash of I'm-still-a-teenager.

The french girl sat down next to her relative and started to pour herself a cup of tea.

"Alexianna Jeunesse! Why in the world were you late?" Sherry chastised her second cousin.

"Jean called and got all big-brother-y on me. He wouldn't shut up! I didn't want to hang up on him though! I'm sorry!" Alexianna explained.

Sherry sighed and gestured to Aki. "I think you have another apology to make as well."

"Oh, of course! I'm sorry Aki-san. I'm usually not late like this." The french teen apologized.

There was something about this girl that Aki couldn't resist, and all of her anger seemed to melt away as the midnight-haired teen smiled at her. Aki was so captivated by her- wait a minute, did her eyes just flicker red?

"I'm sorry, did your eyes just-?" Aki began out of confusion.

Alexianna smiled at the signer and nodded. "It's a side effect. I have… special psychic powers."

"Magnetism." Sherry began to elaborate, "She draws people in. It's her strongest psychic ability. Not many have it. That's why I think she'd make a great addition to your school."

"Indeed." Akiza agreed. "That's only if you want to attend though, Alexianna."

Alexianna smiled as her eyes flickered red again. "I'd love to."

/

Aki entered the Neo Domino library with determination. She had been searching for this girl for weeks and had finally pin-pointed her location. This was it.

Aki headed to the spiritual section of the library to find a pale girl with platinum blonde hair that had a couple black streaks in it and was kept half up in a braid. She wore all black; a t-shirt sleeve length, turtle neck, silk black blouse with ruffles at the neck and down the button line, a knee-length, puffy, Victorian-style skirt with lace flowers on it, black fishnet stockings with black roses on them, fingerless gloves, combat boots, and two diamond rings: one on each middle finger. She had black lipstick, nail polish and mascara. Her eyes stood out, coloured hot pink.

The girl was reading a book on witch-craft folklore and was completely immersed in it that she didn't notice Aki walk up to her. Aki tapped her shoulder, which caused the girl to give a small gasp and slam her book shut.

"Hello Cleotra." Aki greeted cheerily.

Cleotra rolled her eyes as she put her book back on the shelf. "Hi." She said dryly.

"I've been looking for you for a while now." Aki admitted, laughing to herself a little.

"I know. I know why you're here too. Lerahni told me." Cleotra gave annoyed as she scanned the shelf of witchcraft books.

"And?" Aki probed.

Cleotra stopped for a moment and pulled out a book giving the cover a glance before nodding and sticking it under her arm. She brushed past Aki to the end of the aisle before turning her head back. "Only if I get to manage the library." Cleotra bartered.

Aki smiled and nodded. "Deal."

/

"Wow Aki, seems like you have a broad range of students." Yusei commented.

Aki nodded with a smile as they approached the dorm hallway. "I certainly do. Most of them are already in their rooms."

"Really? Can I meet them?" Yusei asked.

"Why do you think I brought you up here?" Aki winked as she walked over to a dorm room and knocked on it.

Takeshi answered it and gave Aki a small smile before greeting her. "Hello… Aki-Sensei…" Takeshi greeted slowly.

"Hi Takeshi! Is Jeff in there too?" Aki inquired.

"Mhm…" Takeshi answered as he nodded. Takeshi waved over another boy with dark purple hair kept messily and brown eyes. He wore black converse and dark blue jeans with a purple sweater overtop a green v-neck t-shirt.

"Hey Aki!" Jeff greeted.

"Hello Jeff. Come meet one of your teachers, Professor Fudo." Aki instructed as the two boys came out in the hallway and greeted Yusei.

Aki got Hino and Xerxes, Alexianna and Cleotra out in the hallway to meet Yusei as he chatted with Takeshi and Jeff. Aki also brought out two unmentioned students, Kheika and Grace.

Kheika was a slim, petite girl with tanned skin and waist length black hair streaked with purple and red. She had icy blue eyes and a tattoo of a rose on her wrist. Her outfit included black skinny jeans, red sneakers, a long sleeved blue shirt and two bracelets in her left wrist, one black and one purple.

Grace was the oldest student there. She was quite tall for a girl, 6'1, and had long blonde hair with red streaks in it. She had green eyes that were very pretty. She wore a rose pink t-shirt and rose pink shorts with white combat boots and a purple energy stabilizer bracelet around her left wrist.

Both girls were pleasant to be around and Yusei enjoyed their company. He was a little put off by Xerxes and Hino, but enjoyed talking to Takeshi and Jeff. Cleotra had a bit of an attitude, but was still bearable, and Yusei could tell Alexianna was related to Sherry.

Aki smiled as they all started mingling.

This was going to be a great year.

END

Review please!


	3. Chapter 2: Orientation

Wow guys! I got a HUGE response for this story. Along with many compliments and encouragement, so I just want to say thank you all for your support and I'm glad you all like the story so much! I'll be accepting OCs for one more chapter, and if I still have teacher roles that need to be filled, I'll fill the spots in with my own characters. There are some new characters in this story, just so you know. I'm not sure if I'll get all the new OCs in this chapter though. There were a lot. Anyways, on with the chapter!

Orientation

The day before the term started, Aki held a very informal student and staff orientation for Arcadia Academy. The orientation included a tour of the school, locker distribution, gym uniform distribution and a reception for just the students. Before the reception began though, the students were introduced to some new staff members.

"Alright Arcadians, I'd you to meet your History and Geography teachers; Professor Ariyashi and… Satoshi-sensei." Aki introduced as two men stepped forward, both strikingly different from each other in appearance and manner.

Professor Ariyashi was fairly built and had fair skin. He had dark brown, shoulder length hair that was somewhat spiky on top and had hazel eyes. He was dressed quite sophisticatedly in a dark brown shirt and black blazer with black cargo pants and knee high black boots. If you looked closely, you could see a couple wristbands peak out from underneath the cuff of his sleeve on his left wrist.

Satoshi-Sensei was a little different. He was extremely tall. Towering, if you will. He was fair and had short red and gold hair waved up in the front. He had a long scar over his left arm. He wore less sophisticated clothes; a red sleeveless t-shirt, a red vest with orange trim, red fingerless gloves, light blue jeans, a black belt and red sneakers. He looked like he was on fire.

Both men stood next to each other, so the contrast was enhanced just that much more. They seemed to know each other though. Hopefully they got along…

"We also have two more staff members you all should become familiar with. They aren't teachers, but they are still important to the school and should be treated with equal amounts of respect. We have the male guidance counsellor Fudo Ryuusei, and the Supervising Attendant Shimotsuki Setsuka." Aki introduced accordingly.

Everyone in the room already knew who Ryuusei was. Anyone who didn't know of him lived under a rock. He was the biggest public scandal the signers ever faced. No one thought Yusei and Aki were dating, not even their closest friends had a clue about it. Somehow Aki had wound up pregnant, with no boyfriend to speak of. She had claimed she was still a virgin even though she was clearly pregnant. She wouldn't say who the father was throughout the entire pregnancy since she was sticking with her story of still being a virgin. But when Ryuusei popped out, he was the spitting image of Yusei with a touch of Aki here and there. According to Jack, when Yusei first saw the baby his face was "As pale as milk, snow and mayonnaise mixed into one bowl". Both signers continued to plead their virginities to the media until they were finally driven to getting medical evidence of it. Aki had already gotten hers months before Ryuusei's birth when she had a 'female' exam and they found her maidenhead still intact. Yusei's evidence was a little harder to get, but he managed to come up with concrete evidence that he was a virgin.

There are three popular theories to the story of how Ryuusei came to be. A) Aki and Yusei paid a couple doctors to fudge the virginity evidence. B) Ryuusei was a 'toilet-seat-baby'. C) Aki was a reincarnated Virgin Mary and Ryuusei was a gift from the Crimson Dragon. There were people who believed C) and were waiting for Ruka to bear either Jack or Crow's child any day now.

Aki and Yusei had agreed to raise Ryuusei together platonically. The now 19 year old boy was almost a Yusei clone except his hair was all black except for his red bangs and his eyes were shaped like Aki's. He wore a purple blazer with silver and trimming over a white dress shirt and white dress pants. The outfit was a sample Arcadia Academy uniform. Many of the less dignified female students started to drool at his sight.

Setsuka was equally as attractive, but much less warm looking. MUCH less. She was also quite a contrast to Ryuusei. She had pale skin, long black hair kept in a braid, and icy eyes. She wore the female version of the Arcadia Academy uniform, the only difference being the pants were a pleated skirt. Most of the students agreed she made a VERY good Supervising Attendant based on looks alone, and yes, there were some guys drooling over her too.

"Alright Arcadians, we'll leave you to it! Please try not to… blow anything up…" Aki and her psychic humour.

After Aki cracked her little joke, all of the teachers and staff members cleared out of the student lounge room and left the students to mingle.

Some students were complete social butterflies. Jeff was making it a point to make sure he introduced himself to every student in the room.

He approached a certain pinkette who had huddled herself in a corner of the room where there were two chairs, one she had sat in herself and one that was occupied by Xerxes.

"Hi! I'm Jeff." He greeted, sticking his hand out to Hino and giving her a dashing smile.

Hino hesitated before tentatively taking his hand and lightly shaking it. "Hino."

"What a lovely name! It matches your personality I bet." He complimented. Xerxes, observing the conversation gave a roll of the eyes.

_Great, one of those outgoing, overly charismatic guys that want to get in your pants._ "Yes, and I'm sure plain ole' Jeff matches yours too." Hino jabbed, hoping he would go away.

Jeff gave a obviously playfully fake wounded look as he sat down on the coffee table in front of the chairs, facing Hino. "Ou. Hey now, I'm just trying to be nice. Let's start over."

"Can't you tell by the uncomfortable look on her face that she wants you to leave?" Xerxes interjected rather coldly and unsparingly.

Jeff stood up and turned to Xerxes. "Wow, Sunshine. You got a mean bite!" He exclaimed at the icy teen.

Xerxes raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't push it Lancelot, I'm a lot meaner than I look." She threatened.

"But you already look pretty mean." Jeff stated dumbly.

Xerxes' lip twitched into a small smirk. "Exactly."

Jeff stared for a minute before he blinked and shrugged. "Terribly sorry to have made you uncomfortable Hino. Perhaps we can get better acquainted some other time when your more comfortable with me. Until then, adieu." Jeff parted with a gallant bow before heading off toward a group he had already acquainted with success.

Hino turned to Xerxes and mouthed a very grateful thank you, to which Xerxes just gave a polite nod. Hino had a feeling her and Xerxes would get along just fine.

Alexianna, Kheika and Takeshi had formed a group circle, allowing Jeff to enter the group after he escaped his disappointing encounter with Hino and Xerxes. In the group as well were Vanitas and Zebel.

Vanitas was a tan boy with spiky black hair and green eyes. Though he was small in frame, he was quite muscular and wore a black shirt with a cross on it and some blue jeans. What captured your attention the most though, was a small scar on his right cheek that just seemed to glare at you whenever you looked at him directly. He also had a comical wrist band that had 'YOU MAD BRO?' written on it with black capital letters.

Zebel a boy with black spiky hair that was a little more spiky on the left side of his head and light red eyes. He wore blue and black headphones around his neck over a white muscle shirt and black short-sleeved jacket with blue streaks on it. He had a blue belt worn on his black cargo pants and he also wore white sneakers.

Both boys seemed to be enjoying themselves in the group with the others, though Zebel was tapping his thigh and didn't look like he would let up anytime soon.

"How'd it go?" Kheika asked the slightly distraught charmer known as Jeff.

"Could've been better." Jeff admitted, giving a blasted sigh as he tried to expel his stress from the greeting and focus on the group of people at hand. "What's been going on over here?"

"Oh, not much. Just chatting." Alexianna replied with a delicate smile. Her eyes flickered red as she made eye contact with Jeff, who returned her smile more broadly and leaned into her a little more, making their interactions much more intimate.

Takeshi observed Alexianna with much discomfort, having figured out that attracting people must be part of her psychic abilities and not approving of what she was doing to Jeff. Nobody was that magnetic. Not even Ryuusei, and he was pretty magnetic.

"So, you're a frenchie?" Jeff asked Alexianna dreamily.

"Yes, I am." She answered sweetly before dropping her smile, her eyes flickering a little before settling to her natural indigo blue eye colour again.

Jeff was startled and faltered a little before holding his forehead as if he had a dizzy spell. "That's… cool."

Takeshi slightly scowled at the french girl and crossed his arms before walking away from the group. Nobody should be messed with like that, no matter how much of a sleazy flirt he or she may be.

"What's with him?" Zebel questioned the others in the group.

"No idea- Okay, you have GOT to stop tapping, it's driving me up the wall!" Kheika exclaimed, clearly annoyed by the fidgety boy.

"S-sorry, I can't help it…" Zebel gave apologetically.

"Oh, well, I'd appreciate it if you'd try to keep it under control." Kheika gave a little less aggressively.

Over on the other side of the room was a group of three girls that Takeshi had decided to join after storming off. Cleotra and Grace two of them, and were engaged in a conversation about different authors they liked while another girl by the name of Stephanie sat with them but didn't talk.

Stephanie was quite tall for a girl, but still shorter than grace by a little bit. She resembled a model, with lightly tanned skin and catlike sapphire eyes. She had beautiful, waist-length black hair with crimson highlights that shone individually whenever the light hit them. She had MANY tattoos in the shape of dragons on her left leg, right bicep and all along her midriff. She wore a black cropped tank top that revealed her tattoo on her midriff, black shorts which revealed the tattoo on her leg, black knee-high boots that added 2 inches to her already towering figure, black wrist-length fingerless gloves and a black leather jacket she currently had slung over her shoulder, so that her tattoo on her arm was visible. Most interestingly though, was a silver dragon pendant that she wore on a black cord around her neck that looked like it had been worn for years.

Takeshi approached the group a little tentatively before he introduced himself after the three girls noticed him.

"Hi… I'm Takeshi…" he introduced himself slowly.

"Hi Takeshi, I'm Grace." Grace greeted kindly.

"Cleotra." Said girl nodded with a little wave as she announced her name.

Takeshi looked over to Stephanie, who took a moment to introduce herself.

"Stephanie." She said quietly, and tried to mimic Cleotra's nod.

Takeshi gave a small smile to the three girls and sat down to join them.

Cleotra and Grace jumped right back into their conversation about authors, assuming Takeshi might join in. However he decided to turn to Stephanie and engage her in conversation.

"So… How did you… End up… Here..?" Takeshi inquired.

Stephanie tilted her head a little, enchanted by Takeshi's slow pace of speaking. Looking at him, her initial nerves about being around so many people faded a little. He seemed extremely friendly and… trustworthy.

"Chancellor Aki asked me to attend while I was on shift at the restaurant." Stephanie replied.

Takeshi blinked and tilted his head in curiosity. "You… Have a job..?"

Stephanie nodded. "Mhm."

"Wow… I never would have guessed…" Takeshi gave, somewhat surprised. "Stephanie-"

"Please," Stephanie cut off, "Call me Steph."

Takeshi smiled, knowing he had already made a friend.

END

I know I didn't get to really expand some of the characters, but at least I managed to introduce all of the new ones (I think/hope)! Please review and tell me what you think! Just a warning, if your OC is in this story and you don't even bother to review, your OC will most likely fade into the background or just not get mentioned anymore. Sorry, that bothers me. A lot.

Please Review!


	4. Chapter 3: Getting To Know You

OCs are now closed! I've got a bunch of characters to work with now! If I find I need more characters I'll re-open it, but for now, the roster is full! People who have submitted OCs, thank you! If you read something you don't like that involves your character, just PM me. Now, on with the chapter!

Getting To Know You

The first day of classes was upon the students now. Aki had deviated from the norm for academy schedules and started the school day at 9:30am, giving the students an extra half hour to get themselves ready for the day, which Hino was currently taking advantage of at the moment.

Hino shared a room with Kheika, someone she had barely exchanged two words with over the past three days they had been roommates. It's not that she didn't like Kheika, she just didn't have anything to talk to her about. They were both in the same age group class though, so at least she had a potential homework buddy.

Hino was a little disappointed that Xerxes was 4 years younger than her, and therefore had absolutely no chance of having any classes with her. She and Xerxes had managed to create a conversation the night before at the student reception thing. Hino found that her and Xerxes had some similarities that made it easy for the two to get along, which she was thankful for. She needed a friend here.

It was quarter to nine and Kheika was still asleep in her bed. Hino tried to be as quiet as possible taking her shower, getting dressed in her usual outfit, and getting together her school supplies for the day ahead of her.

The door knocked at around ten after nine, waking Kheika. Hino answered it to find a tired-looking Xerxes staring plainly at her recently-acquired friend. Hino was about to greet her before she was yanked from the room and dragged down the hallway to Xerxes' dorm room.

"Look at my roommate." Xerxes commanded as she shoved Hino's face in the doorway.

Hino's eyes quickly found a familiar dark haired french girl applying some mascara and semi-admiring herself in the mirror.

Hino pulled her face out of the doorway, trying to maintain a straight face as Xerxes closed the door.

"Afraid you wont make it to the end of the year?" Hino lightly teased.

Xerxes just stared at her friend as she replied. "No, I'm afraid _she_ wont make to the end of the year."

Hino giggled at her new friend's remark as they walked back to Hino's dorm room so she could collect her things for the day.

"Excited for class today?" Hino asked, trying to conjure a casual conversation.

"Hardly. Take a look at my schedule." Xerxes replied levelled as she handed Hino her time table.

First period: Math with Bruno-sensei

Second period: Physics with Yusei-sensei

Third period: English with Carly-sensei

Lunch

Fourth period: French with Sherry-sensei

Fifth period: History with Professor Ariyashi

Sixth period: Psychic Abilities with Aki-sensei

Hino frowned when she came to the sixth period slot on Xerxes' time table. Hino had psychic abilities during that block as well. But they weren't in the same age group.

"I have psychic abilities during sixth as well." Hino informed the bluenette confusedly.

"So?" Xerxes replied, not seeing anything wrong with the scheduling.

"We're in different age group classes. This doesn't make sense." Hino explained.

"I'm sure there's a reason for it being that way." Xerxes assured Hino, literally having no clue why she was so worked up about it.

The two girls meandered over to Xerxes' first class room, keeping a light conversation going as they went along. The two parted ways after reaching the classroom and Hino pulled out her time table to see which class she had first.

First period: Writer's Craft with Carly-sensei

Second period: Chemistry with Bruno-sensei

Third period: Physics with Yusei-sensei

Lunch

Fourth period: English with Carly-Sensei

Fifth period: History with Jack-Sensei

Sixth period: Psychic Abilities with Aki-sensei

Hino made her way over to Carly-sensei's classroom, observing some of the paintings and other décor in the hallways as she strolled along. The building was quite beautiful. Chancellor Aki was obviously dedicated to this school.

Hino found the classroom with 5 minutes to spare. Carly was sitting at her desk at the front of the room, reading a book through her goofy glasses. Cleotra, another student in her age group class, was already sitting at a desk, reading a book as well. Though the book she was reading was large and bound loosely. It looked old, like some witches spell book.

Hino took a seat near the front and got out a bunch of her supplies. Writer's craft should be a fun class.

Out of nowhere, Jeff appeared in the desk next to her. Great, he was in her age group class. That meant she would have her entire schedule with him.

Suddenly her mood went from positive and determined, to negative and doubtful.

"Hey Hino!" Jeff greeted the pinkette.

Hino gave an internal groan as she swivelled her head and gave a very forced smile. "Morning."

Jeff titled his head at her as he turned his chair to face her. "Looks like you're not a morning person. That's too bad. I'll have to do something about that!"

"Oh joy…" Hino gave less than enthusiastically.

Jeff shook his head at her with a little smile on his face, finding this kind of cute on her. "Cheer up, Hino. Hey, where's your friend Sunshine?"

"She's in a different age group class." Hino gave disappointedly, temporarily letting some true emotion show.

Jeff frowned a little, trying to make her guard stay down a little longer. "That's unfortunate."

"Yeah." Hino agreed before she snapped back into her annoyed state.

During the conversation, Zebel had entered the room and taken a seat in the middle of the room.

The bell rung, signalling the start of class. Carly stood up and wrote her name on the board before beginning the class.

"Good morning you four! I'm Carly, your Writer's Craft teacher! I'm so excited to be teaching you! Today we're going to dive _**write**_ into our poetry unit!" The over-enthusiastic teacher exclaimed.

Cleotra rolled her eyes at the teacher, clearly not excited for the class.

"To start off, I want you each to take out a piece of paper and just write about whatever is on your mind! Just anything! Be as descriptive as you can! We'll share after you're all done." Carly instructed.

Hino took out her piece of paper and a pen. She tried to come up with a topic to write about but couldn't think of anything. She started biting on her pen out of frustration.

"Why is this so hard?" Hino whispered to herself.

"Just close your eyes and relax." Jeff whispered to her.

Hino had forgotten Jeff was there. She looked at his page to find it filled up. A small streak of jealousy zipped across her momentarily before she registered his comment.

"Just… relax?" She asked in disbelief.

Jeff nodded. "Yeah. Just clear your head and something will come to you. Try it." He encouraged her.

She gave him a small double take before she took his advice and closed her eyes. She cleared her mind as best as she could and just sat there for a while. At first, nothing came to her. Then she remembered Jeff was most likely watching her which made her feel a little flustered. Why did he keep trying to talk her? She wasn't that interesting… Was she?

Come to think of it, Jeff was kind of interesting himself. His hair reminded her of orchids, which was kind of weird, but also kind of neat. Was she really thinking about Jeff's hair right now?

She opened her eyes and grabbed her pen, setting to work on her poem. She finished in 5 minutes and sat back in her chair, satisfied with her results. She looked around to see Cleotra reading her book again and Zebel staring at his paper and nodding at it.

"See? I told you something would come." Jeff gloated a little.

Hino rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly.

Carly stood up from her desk again and called up Jeff to read his poem first. He stood at the front of the class confidently, lifting up his paper just high enough to be able to read it clearly, but just low enough that you could still see his face.

"A creamy beauty, dusted with flakes of strawberry

Captures attention demandingly

Gives an aura of tranquility

Evokes infatuation from it's victims.

Sheer layers of shimmering, shining light

Grasps my vision without mercy

It is gorgeous

It is the Rose"

Hino was extremely surprised at Jeff's revealed hidden talent. The poem was beautiful and had made her tingle all over. Carly stood and clapped.

"Bravo, Jeff! That was beautiful!" Carly exclaimed.

"Thank you, Carly-sensei!" Jeff thanked as he sat down next to Hino again.

"Hino? Would you like to go?" Carly pretty much volun-told her.

Hino nodded as she got up and timidly made her way to the front. She was slightly hunched over, not wanting to share her poem and feeling a little nervous.

"Annoyance and confusion

Two things I know well

Both brought on by

Orchids

Though Orchids are beautiful

They make me feel crowded

Though I love to look at them.

This is where my confusion sets in.

Orchids

So simple

Yet so complex"

Jeff and Carly both clapped for her. Cleotra and Zebel had perplexed looks on their faces, not getting the point of the poem.

Hino sat back down as soon as she had finished her poem, her cheeks dusting a light pink.

"That was beautiful." Jeff complimented.

Hino didn't even look at him and just gave a quick, "Thank you."

This would be an interesting term.

/

"Now, you take your brushes and move them across the canvas. Do it now." Jack commanded his class of 17 and 18 year old students.

This class was the largest out of all the age group classes. Alexianna, Takeshi, Kheika, Vanitas, Stephanie and Grace were all in this class along with a couple other students.

Alexianna and Kheika were sitting together at their canvases, keeping a light conversation going as they attempted to paint. Vanitas and Grace were also another set of painters sitting together, though they didn't really say anything unless it was to compliment the other, or ask advice from the other.

Takeshi and Stephanie had chosen to sit the furthest back together and talked as they made random brush strokes across their canvases.

"Exactly how is Jack-sensei qualified to teach art?" Stephanie questioned her new friend as they both regarded their heinously dressed teacher splashing paint all over the place with his eyes closed and his face serious.

Takeshi shook his head. "I don't… think he is… qualified…"

"Probably." Stephanie agreed.

Alexianna and Kheika started to laugh at their little paired painting station.

Takeshi groaned as he stared at the two girls, Alexianna in particular.

"Don't like her?" Stephanie guessed at him.

He gave a glance toward Stephanie before returning his intense gaze back to the french girl and shook his head. "She abuses her powers… That's not right…"

"Not everyone can control their powers I guess." Stephanie mediated, trying to see Alexianna's side before complete dismissing her as a bad person.

"She does it deliberately… I've seen her…" Takeshi rebutted.

Stephanie just shrugged as she returned back to her painting.

Alexianna caught sight of Takeshi's stare and froze at the intensity of it. Her breathe hitched in her throat as she waited for him to look away, but he never did. Her stomach started to flutter a little as she shrunk back under his gaze and quickly turned back to her painting, unable to continue painting but just needing a place to look besides her fellow psychic.

Takeshi watched her for a few more moments before returning to his painting, feeling his emotions string out over the girl, but were they all bad?

Alexianna looked back after a minute or two to see if he was still staring, to find his focus back on his painting. She turned back to her painting and gave a small sigh before closing her eyes and calming herself.

Stephanie looked at Takeshi's tense expression and decided to try and lift it.

"Alexianna's pretty cute though. You can't deny that." Stephanie jabbed at him, hoping he might crack a smile.

He gave a glance towards said girl then looked back down. "I guess." He responded intensely.

Stephanie frowned at the response and returned to her painting.

Tension was already starting to rise within the group of students.

END

Sorry guys, I know some of the characters didn't get a lot or any screen time. There are still some characters I have to introduce actually, but I felt obligated to get two of the main storylines started. Don't worry, there are others! And I promise I will get the other characters introduced in the story! Please review guys!


	5. Chapter 4: Lies and Deception

Alright, another chapter. I've been getting some Mary Sue vibes from some of the reviewers, so I'll do my best to avoid that. Anyways, thanks for the continued support! I'm warning you all now that I'm probably not introducing any new characters for a while, simply because I want to get the plot rolling a bit before I throw in some plot devices. Now, on with the fic!

Lies and Deception

The rest of Hino's classes had gone pretty much the same as first period. Just the four of them in the class. Jeff sitting next to her in each one. Him being surprisingly helpful yet annoying at the same time. It was pretty repetitive until sixth period.

As it turned out, every student in the school was in this class. Aki apparently had the plan to teach all of them about psychic control and help them expand their abilities all at the same time so that the group grew together and learned from each other. Hino was glad that it wasn't a mistake and that she actually had a class with Xerxes. She really couldn't complain after the day she had been through.

"To give a little demonstration of the kind of work you'll be doing in this class, Alexianna has generously offered to be today's guinea pig and show her abilities to all of you." Aki announced as she beckoned Alexianna to the front.

Everyone was dead silent and completely focused on Aki and Alexianna, which was surprising, seeing as they were all a bunch of moody, misunderstood teenagers, some of which couldn't stop fidgeting, i.e. Zebel.

"Alexianna, would you please show the class your unique ability you have?" Aki asked the girl as she stood in front of the entire class. The french teen nodded as Akiza continued. "I have discovered, after recruiting and meeting some of you, that some psychics have other talents besides making damage and duel monsters real. Alexianna is a perfect example of this." Aki announced to the class and turned to Alexianna as she finished her blurb, gesturing to the dark-haired girl to start using her powers.

Alexianna's eyes started to flicker red as she focused on Aki. The teen girl smiled and Aki started to fall into a trance, visible to the class. Aki smiled hazily and leaned in toward the girl, who started to get a worried look on her face. She stopped smiling after a bit and tried to tone down her powers, but seemed to have trouble doing so and decided to completely break eye contact with the Chancellor, who stumbled after being cut out of her dream state so abruptly.

The class gasped in unison and whispers broke out as Alexianna looked at the floor, embarrassed. Aki regained her composer after a few seconds and turned to her volunteer with a proud smile on her face. "That was very good!" she merited the teen.

"Wh-What? I lost control, how was that good?" Alexianna asked out of confusion.

Aki shook her head at the girl. "You always had control, because you knew how to stop. Imagine if you couldn't break off your magnetism? I'd be on the floor drooling over your feet right now! You're at a great starting point, now we can focus on how to control the level of intensity and strength your powers have." Aki explained to Alexianna, who started to perk up a little.

Takeshi frowned at the comment made by the Chancellor. Alexianna knew how to control her powers perfectly well, he had seen her mess with Jeff's head just yesterday. Now she was pretending to be clueless? Alexianna was really starting to get on his nerves. Especially with the way she smiled being so pretty… Did he just think that?

Alexianna scanned the room as Aki started explaining how having a good starting point with psychic powers was important, the teen girl's eyes landing on Takeshi, who was also looking at her. Another flutter took over her stomach as she returned his stare. There was something about Takeshi that allured her. She found him entrancing and extremely intense and… attractive. Thinking about him made her stomach flip-flop. He was so… mysterious. She wondered if he possibly found her attractive. The way he stared at her though didn't really have an I'm-attracted-to-you-so-I'm-going-to-admire-you feel to it, it was more of a I'm-observing-your-every-move-in-case-you-do-something vibe. It was… odd to say the least. She would have to talk to him about it.

Aki had Alexianna try her powers on her again, except this time, Alexianna had to focus on a specific goal in her mind while applying her powers. Her goal, she chose, was to get Aki to admit the truth behind Ryuusei's conception. Alexianna focused on Aki as her eyes flickered red. Aki started to fall into a deep dream haze. Her eyes drooped and her shoulders slumped as she smiled at Alexianna.

"I had a… a… a one night stand… a DRUNK one night stand… with… with… Yusei…." Aki slurred. Alexianna became overcome with shock and her powers faltered once she pieced together Aki's sentence.

Aki fell back on her butt from dizziness. Her head spun and she could barely make out the student's gasps and chattering. It took her a while to settle and once she did, she looked to Alexianna with a puzzled look on her face. "What happened?"

"You told us… that you and Yusei-sensei had a one night stand." Alexianna explained, still half in shock.

Aki's eyes widened as she turned to the class and gave them an apologetic look, her face bright red and flustered. "I'm so sorry you all heard that. Uh… please keep this information to yourselves. Class dismissed."

Everyone left the classroom either stunned or gossiping about the new information. They all had the intention of keeping the Chancellor's secret – well it wasn't so secret now – to themselves out of respect to her. They did all owe it to her after all. She worked her butt off trying to create this school for them so they could have a safe place to go to everyday to learn and make friends.

Hino went with Xerxes to one of the many student lounges in the building to get away from everything and just hang out.

"How were your classes?" Hino started off the conversation.

"They were okay. Most of my classmates are intolerable. And yours?" Xerxes replied.

"Oh, about the same. Guess who's in my age group class?"

"Don't tell me. Lancelot?" Xerxes gave sympathetically.

Hino nodded, her expression annoyed to say the least. "He sat next to me in EVERY class!"

"I'll make sure to write a eulogy for the funeral." Xerxes jested, getting a chuckle out of Hino.

The girls talked some more about their classes before cracking into their homework. They remained in silence for the rest of the time in that lounge.

/

Alexianna was in the library, looking for books on famous Renaissance painters with the assistance of Cleotra. After she found a suitable book for what she was looking for, she started to head back to her dorm room to do some homework.

As she turned the corner out of the library, she accidently ran into Grace, causing the blonde's books and papers to go flying everywhere.

"I'm so sorry!" Alexianna exclaimed as she started to help Grace pick up her things.

Grace batted Alexianna's hand away from her stuff. "Whatever, it's fine. I've got it." Grace gave harshly.

Alexianna was taken aback. She had pegged Grace for being a sweet girl, which Cleotra had assured her she was. Why was she being so cold right now?

"Please, let me help-"

"I said I've got it!" Grace asserted as she finished gathering her papers and rushed into the library.

"Strange…" Alexianna muttered.

Alexianna continued down the hall and passed a janitor. The janitor was a scrappy-looking, thin-faced Chinese-American. He held a melancholy disposition in his baggy blue jump-suit that had a sewed-on name tag that read 'Anthony Chumo'. The man seemed a little odd.

He waved his gloved hand at the teen as she passed and she gave a smile in return, trying extremely hard to make sure her powers didn't activate.

She turned a corner to find Takeshi observing a painting in the hallway. Alexianna immediately jumped back behind the wall she turned and hid from the teen boy's sight. After a while she stuck her nose around the wall and watched him.

He stood pretty close to the painting, regarding it with an intrigued air. She gathered from his expression that he was trying to figure out it's message. The painting itself was of a row of small, Japanese girls, all in white, lacy dresses, their hair curled and pinned to cascade down their backs. They were all on a bridge looking over the railing and pointing in different directions, all except one. One of the girls was looking out at the observer of the painting. She was holding one of the pins that was supposed to be in her hair and looked like she wanted to through it over the railing of the bridge. She was like all the other girls but she didn't want to be.

Alexianna , intrigued by the painting as well, started to turn the corner and joined Takeshi in observing it. She tilted her head it and gave a slight smile as she admired the piece of artwork.

Takeshi looked back at her and did a double take. "It's interesting, isn't it..?" he asked slowly.

Alexianna nodded at him. "It's beautiful." She added.

"I wouldn't say that…." Takeshi disagreed.

Alexianna frowned at his comment. "You don't like it?" she asked.

Takeshi fully turned toward the teenaged girl. "I guess I don't quite relate to the girl... I don't understand the painting as well as others might…"

Alexianna gave a nod of understanding before letting a new frown settle on her face. "I do."

"Really?" Takeshi gave sceptically.

Alexianna was surprised at his jab and gave him a slightly offended look. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"You just seem to enjoy your powers a little too much to feel any resentment towards them…" Takeshi accused, becoming harsh towards her.

She raised an eyebrow at him. He barely knew her, how could he say something like that? "What makes you say that?"

"The student reception… I saw what you did to Jeff…" Takeshi answered, spewing a disapproving tone all over his words.

Alexianna took a step back from him in disbelief. "You thought that was intentional?"

"It certainly seemed like it…" he replied just as offensively.

Her face contorted into hurt and sorrow as she took another step back from him. "You don't even know me. You really think you have the right to accuse me of something like that? You really feel like you can just assume that I like to mess with people's heads for fun when you haven't even had two conversations with me yet? You're not even willing to give me the benefit of the doubt?" She lectured, very upset at what was unfolding.

"Well I-"

"I would never do something like that! You have no idea what it is like to have a power that you can barely control and not only does it affect people in the worst possible ways, it makes them hate you, see you in a bad way. I've been called so many things that actually hurt, that actually mean something! Manipulative, inconsiderate, selfish, fake. I hate this! Because things like this happen!"

"Alexianna-"

"No! You didn't even bother to try and get to know me first. You didn't check to see if you were right or not. I'm _sick_ of people like you! I can't believe I actually had a crush on you!" She scolded him, along with admitting her developing attraction. She shook her head at the now very shocked boy and turned to leave.

Takeshi grabbed her arm as she walked away, but she shrugged him off. "Don't talk to me." She said dangerously serious. She walked away toward her dorm briskly, her eyes warming with the brew of sadness.

Takeshi was left standing there, mouth agape, watching her leave. He felt guilt sink down his throat and into his gut. He felt awful.

/

Kheika was in her dorm room, finishing up the last of her homework, when she heard a knock at the door. She opened it to find Jeff standing there holding a flower with a note on it.

"Hi! Is Hino here?" He greeted and asked.

Kheika shook her head pityingly. "No, she's not. And even if she were, I don't think she'd accept that little gift you have there." She opinionated as she gestured to the items in his hands.

Jeff just smiled at her. "I just has class with her and she talked to me all day. I think I'm making headway with her." He triumphantly announced.

Kheika flopped her head to the side as she raised an eyebrow at him. "She told me she barely made it through the day because she had to put up with you. She's dreading the rest of the year because she'll have to sit next to you 7 hours a day, 5 days a week."

Jeff frowned, genuinely hurt by Kheika's words. "What are you saying?" he asked her.

She gave him a sly smile as she moved into him. "Set your sights elsewhere."

Jeff, visibly becoming extremely uncomfortable, tried to back out of Kheika's grasp. "I-I don't know about that one…"

Kheika grabbed his hand, forcing him to drop the light pink rose and card poem he was holding and pulled him back toward her. "What's the point of pursuing her if you have no chance of ever winning her over?' Kheika tried to open his eyes metaphorically speaking.

This hit him hard. He could tell Kheika was coming on to him, and she was pretty cute. Besides, she did have a point. Hino obviously didn't like him. Perhaps he should give Kheika a chance…

He looked into her brilliant, blue eyes and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I guess you're right." He admitted.

Kheika smiled genuinely at him and brought him into her room. He went to go sit down, and while she closed the door, her back turned to him, she smiled devilishly at the scheming lie she had told him.

END

So, we have a bit more of an idea who the not-so-nice people are. I know Hino and Xerxes didn't have much screen time and Alexianna did, but it'll flip-flop between different characters ALL the time. I'm also not the most regular updater so please forgive me for that fault. I'm happy I managed to introduce a new character, though his part in the story is rather small.

Review please! Or I'll kill a character. I have the power to do that y'know.


	6. Chapter 5: Surprising Events

Hello gracious readers and reviewers. I bring ye another chapter. Now, I didn't get many flaws for some of the characters submitted so I'll be creating some. Don't worry, no one will be a sadistic murderer or anything like that (well, save one that was submitted that way). Anyways, I'm going to try to keep the updates within 1-5 days apart, so there'll be some irregularity but hopefully not much.

Giving a shout to Xerxes Glace Hydro for being so helpful critically and supporting-wise. You really have been a huge help, so thank you.

Also, lalunaticscribe, you've been helpful too. Always finding something for me to work on. Thank you so much!

Now, on with the chapter!

Surprising Events

Hino returned to her dorm room fairly uplifted. Even though her and Xerxes hadn't shared many words, the meeting was still pleasant. Hino worried a little about the younger girl though. She seemed so cold and lonely, save when she was around Hino. But even then she still had an icy aura. Hino wondered what could have possibly made her so harsh of character.

Hino opened the door to her dorm room and plopped her finished homework on the desk in the room. The dorm room was fairly large and had two beds on either side of the main room, made of cherry wood and fixed with lavender and royal purple bedding. There was a cherry wood desk next to the front door of the room and a dresser next to it, complete with symmetrical sections of draws, one for each student in the room. The room also came with it's own bathroom which held a bathtub that also had a showerhead in it, the obvious piece of furniture, a toilet, twin sinks and a vanity desk, complete with a large oval mirror, the colour scheme of the rooms matching the bedding.

Hino looked up from the desk to see Jeff and Kheika engaging in some 'romantic' activities that included hand holding and lip locking. Hino froze upon discovering them, and they froze when they noticed her standing there. Hino backed out of the room and slammed the door behind her, completely and utterly in shock.

There was no way on earth she was jealous. None at all. At least that's what she kept telling herself each time she envisioned herself putting Kheika's face through a wall. Jeff was annoying, and way too cheery, and cracked way too many jokes. But she was getting used to him, and the idea of him being her annoying, way too cheery boy that cracked too many jokes.

She shook her head. No way. She should be rejoicing right now. Besides, she had made it pretty clear to him that she was NOT interested. He was perfectly able to kiss whoever he wanted.

Her mind kept yelling at itself as she wandered the halls a bit. She took a break from her inner turmoil to check the time on the clock at the end of the current hall she was in. 7:34pm.

"Time flies when you're having _fun._" She muttered to herself.

"Indeed." A voice behind her agreed.

Hino did a 180 air turn, caught completely off-guard, to discover the Supervising Attendant regarding her calmly.

"Shimotsuki-sensei! Uh… Hi!" Hino greeted, surprised and nervous.

"Hello Kizana-chan." Shimotsuki returned the greeting, crossing her arms as she did. Hino didn't care what the others thought, Shimotsuki was scary and intimidating as a god.

"M-may I help you at a-all?" Hino asked, still extremely nervous under the supervisor's gaze.

"Not at the moment." Shimotsuki answered vaguely.

Hino felt a shiver go down her spine as the temperature in the hall seemed to drop a bit.

"Curfew is in an hour and a half. I suggest you use that time wisely before heading back to your room." Shimotsuki advised before walking away from the girl and heading down another hallway.

"Man, that girl is creepy." Hino said to herself once Shimotsuki had turned the corner.

Her encounter with the icy girl had temporarily distracted her mind from Jeff. Jeff… He was such a confusing topic for her, yet she had practically just met him. It frustrated her that she had no answers about her feelings towards him. Whether she was jealous, annoyed, happy or angry, she really couldn't tell.

/

Takeshi was feeling pretty much like the biggest ass-hole on the planet.

He went back to his dorm room, constantly repeating Alexianna's lecture in his head. He felt so bad about what had happened, yet the only part his brain would focus on was _'I can't believe I had a crush on you!'_ It ate at him. This girl who had consumed his thoughts for the past two days, both an the hate and attraction scale had admitted to liking him. Him? Really? He couldn't believe it. It mad him ecstatic and regretful at the same time. He was completely conflicted. All he knew was that he needed to apologize to her quickly.

He was about to pass his own dorm room and head to Alexianna's when he found Stephanie sitting outside his room. He stopped and held a hand out to her to help her up.

"Hey, what are you doing here, Steph?" He asked, trying to hide his negative feelings.

"Just wanted to see if you were busy or not." Stephanie replied casually.

Takeshi gave a slight frown. Part of him wanted to leave the apology to Alexianna till later and just hang out with Stephanie, but he knew he had to fix things with her right now.

"I have to go take care of something, actually, but it won't take long, I promise. You can wait inside if you like." He offered the girl, uncharacteristically rushing his words. He was in a hurry to find Alexianna after all.

Stephanie nodded and entered the room while Takeshi took off towards Alexianna's room.

Once he reached the room, he knocked quickly and impatiently. Xerxes answered the door and let him in.

"Thank god. Please make her shut up." Xerxes instructed as she grabbed a purse, assumingly hers, and left the room, clearly not wanting to tolerate Alexianna's sobs.

Takeshi waited for Xerxes to leave before saying anything. He stood there a moment, observing the damage he had caused and feeling his guilt double in his gut.

"Alexianna-"

"I told you not to talk to me!" she screamed at him before sobbing into her pillow again.

Takeshi sighed and his pained face intensified. He walked over to her bed and sat next to her. She looked up at him, surprised at the bold move.

"Please, let-"

"I said don't!" she yelled at him.

"No! I'm going to apologize, whether you like it or not!" he burst at her, which made her shut up. He continued, "I'm sorry. I was completely wrong judging you like that. Can you please forgive me?" Takeshi genuinely apologized slowly.

Alexianna looked at him, not knowing what to say. He forced her to listen to him apologize, something no one had ever done before. He must've really wanted her forgiveness.

"It's not perfect," she started as she sat up next to him and looked him dead in the eyes, "But it's a start. I… forgive you."

Takeshi started to feel a lot better about the situation and gave a small smile in thanks. Though her face was swollen with tears an her make-up was running all over her cheeks and chin, he still found her quite pretty.

Alexianna felt a tad awkward in this situation. It was new to her. No one had ever gone out of their way to make amends with her before. Maybe Takeshi wasn't a bad guy?

Takeshi went to the bathroom and grabbed some tissues. He sat back down next to the french psychic and started to wipe the running make-up from her porcelain skin. His touch was gentle and soothing to her, and she secretly enjoyed it.

"Thank you." She quietly thanked.

Takeshi gave a small smile as he moved the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "No problem." He replied.

Embarrassed, Alexianna looked down at her hands and started playing with the fabric of her skirt. This was also a situation she was unfamiliarly awkward with.

"I, uh-"

"Would you like to have lunch together tomorrow?" Takeshi blurted boldly, and unwittingly. He hadn't planned to ask her that, it just spilled out.

"Uh… Sure…" she answered, turning red as she did.

Takeshi, who had also turned a shade of red, nodded and stood to leave. He opened the door, but looked back to her and gave a little wave before leaving the room. She waved back at him and watched him leave, feeling her stomach go out of control with butterflies.

/

"Cleotra!" Grace called as she entered the empty library, save for the girl she was seeking.

"Grace, this is a library! Keep you voice down!" Cleotra chided from behind the librarian's desk.

Grace looked around before giving her friend a confused look. "There's no one here…"

Cleotra tilted her head at her and gave a look that read 'shame, shame' before replying "It's still disrespectful, and you didn't know if there were people here or not when you decided to yell my name."

"Sorry…" Grace apologized, not seeing the big deal about what she did. "Anyways, how were your classes?" Grace changed the subject quickly.

Cleotra's expression went from annoyed with her friend's inconsiderate act, to frustrated with the day's events. "They could've been better if not for the moody couple who decided to talk straight through ever single class."

"Are they dating?!" Grace asked, intrigued.

"It was hard to tell. Hino really seems to hate Jeff, but it could've been playful banter. I really couldn't tell. If it was banter, then she needs to lighten it up a bit. She said some pretty hurtful things." Cleotra gossiped.

Grace pursed her lips. "I bet you any money it's that Xerxes kid rubbing off on her. Have you ever seen anyone so cold and rude before?" Grace smack talked.

Cleotra shook her head. "That girl's only 13 too. Anyways, how were your classes?"

"They were okay. I sat with a guy named Vanitas in Art and English class. He's pretty nice. I also sat with Stephanie and Takeshi for a couple classes. I feel bad for her." Grace admitted.

Cleotra furrowed her brow at the comment. "Why?"

"She's obviously into Takeshi, but he clearly isn't mutual about it. Plus, I don't think he even has an idea that that's how she feels. Poor girl." Grace gabbed.

Cleotra shook her head. "That's really unfortunate. Apparently Takeshi hates that Alexianna girl."

"He wouldn't be the only one." Grace added, annoyed at the mention of the french girl.

"What do you have against Alexianna?' Cleotra inquired, a little surprised at her new friend.

"She just rubs me the wrong way. I'm not overly fond of rich snobs like her." Grace gave relentlessly.

Cleotra frowned at her. "You don't know if she's wealthy or not, I wouldn't assume that about her."

"Are you kidding me? Have you seen her? She dresses like some loaded model!" Grace smacked.

"So? You dress like a model, but you're not completely loaded." Cleotra pointed out.

Grace sighed. "I just don't get good vibes from her. Kheika doesn't seem like a bowl of peaches either."

"Whatever. Can you help me organize these books?" Cleotra asked, wanting to get off the topic.

Grace rolled her eyes and nodded. "Sure."

/

Xerxes ran into Hino as she was wandering the halls aimlessly. Hino clearly looked distraught, which concerned Xerxes greatly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Xerxes asked as she caught up with the pinkette, leading her to a nearby lounge.

"Just… stuff." Hino answered, absorbed in her thoughts.

Xerxes sat her down as she gave a slight frown. "Talk to me, what's bothering you?"

Hino sighed before beginning to explain. "I caught Jeff with Kheika. Like, _with_ her."

Xerxes raised an eyebrow as she straightened up a little, not expecting that bit of information. "Okay… And you're bothered by this because..?"

"Because! Because he's Jeff! Jeff, who's annoying and doesn't give up and talks non-stop! He's Jeff and he shouldn't be making out with other people! But whatever, y'know? I mean, he's perfectly entitled to throw his tongue into whoever's mouth he wants to, even though I thought he wanted to throw it in my mouth, but whatever. I'm over it!" Hino blasted in fury.

Xerxes mustered all of her strength to not laugh at her friend. "I'm inclined to disagree."

"WHAT?!" Hino exclaimed, clearly hormonal at the moment.

"It just seems to me that you're hung up on. You've become… possessive, I guess is the word to use." Xerxes admitted while trying to hold back a snicker.

"I- ugh… There's no point in debating this, is there?" Hino gave up.

"I don't think there is." Xerxes agreed. "Don't worry. He'll break it off with Kheika once he realizes that he's hung up on you and you only."

"You really think so?" Hino asked, seeming hopeful.

"Mhm." Xerxes said, truly meaning it.

Hino smiled at her friend, thankful that she had cheered her up. She really was extremely lucky to have a friend like Xerxes.

END

I kind of left it off at a weird area but I thought it was nice to end the chapter on a positive note. Right now it's mainly conflicts between the students, but don't worry, I'll be getting into more action-packed stuff in the next arc, I promise!

Please review!


	7. Chapter 6: Books

Sorry, I took a little longer to update this time. My stomach has been bothering me so much, these past three days I've only eaten soda crackers and toast cause that's all I could keep down. Now that I've managed to crawl out of bed, I'm updating! Yay for updates! Damn, I need a laptop. And a tablet. Life, why do you hate me?

Anyways, on with the chapter!

Books

Ryuusei shook his head in disbelief. He had just found out about the truth behind his conception, and was now listening to his mother try to explain herself.

"Ryuusei! I didn't even know that it was a one-night stand! Alright?" Aki confessed, causing Ryuusei to just look away from her, stoic as ever. There was no response from him.

Aki pressed on. "That Alexianna girl pulled it out of me somehow… I don't- I'm sorry." Aki admitted and apologized.

Ryuusei's expression remained the same. He gave her one glance before exiting the room.

Ryuusei stalked toward his office, a couple hallways away. Today, his job as a guidance counsellor would begin. Perfect timing, after the entire student body found out how he was conceived. He could tell this wasn't going to be his day.

He approached his office and took down the sign up sheet next to the door. Almost every girl in the school had signed up for an appointment with him. Great.

He really hated being attractive sometimes. It was so annoying to have to go through letting down so many people as easily as possible. Stalker after stalker. Fangirl after fangirl. And now he was going to have to deal with a bunch of hormonal teenaged girls signing up for appointments with him just to check him out.

He went through his list of female students at Arcadia Academy and discovered that Hino and Alexianna were the only two girls who hadn't signed up for an appointment.

This was going to be a long day.

/

Hino was on her way to her first period class alone, supplies in her Arcadia Academy book bag she had received at orientation. Chancellor Izayoi had asked for a couple volunteers to try out the uniform for a couple weeks, and Hino had volunteered. She fixed her blazer, unbuttoning the front of it, along with the top of her dress shirt. As she did so, none other than Jeff had decided to catch up to her.

"H-hi." Jeff greeted tentatively.

Hino could sense his cautious approach to her and rolled her eyes. "Hi Jeff. How'd you make out last night?" she asked, sarcastically.

Jeff winced at the jab, afraid of upsetting her already. "Look I'm-"

"Whatever. It's none of my business. Next time, leave a tie on the doorknob so I know to come back later." Hino cut off, not wanting to hear Jeff squabble over the matter.

Jeff gave a nervous laugh. "Okay. Sure."

After Jeff's reply, Hino remained silent all the way to the classroom.

/

"YO! LEX!" Kheika called as she, Zebel and Jeff grabbed a table in the large and very purple cafeteria.

Alexianna had already gotten her lunch (which was provided for free by the school) and had started to head over to where Takeshi was waiting for her. She looked back at the group of three who were waving her over. She looked at Takeshi and put up a finger, mouthing 'one second' as she turned and walked over to Kheika.

"Hey guys, I cant eat lunch with you today." Alexianna announced.

Kheika frowned at her and asked, "Why not?"

"I, sort of, already have plans, with someone else." She admitted as she gave a shy glance toward Takeshi.

A sly smile crossed Kheika's lips. "Plans, eh?" she gave implicationally, wiggling her eyebrows a bit as she did.

Alexianna laughed at her friend and turned a slight shade of red. "Stop! He and I are… friends-ish…" she gave unconvincingly. The truth was, she had no idea what to call him. Was he a crush? A friend? A mere acquaintance? She was confused to say the least.

While Alexianna dealt with her group, Stephanie approached Takeshi, who's eyes were locked on the french psychic and didn't even notice Stephanie approach him.

"What cha' doing?" Stephanie asked casually.

Takeshi snapped out of his staring trance and gave Stephanie a small smile. "Waiting for someone." He informed.

Stephanie looked in the direction his eyes were glued to and landed on Alexianna.

"Oh! Someone has a hot date!" She teased as he nudged him.

From afar, and unnoticed by the others, Grace and Cleotra were sitting at a table together, Grace's eyes were locked on Stephanie as she watched her nudge Takeshi. "She _so_ likes him." Grace concluded, getting Cleotra's attention.

Cleotra raised her eyes from her book and looked towards Stephanie and Takeshi. "I don't think so. She looks like she's just teasing him about something. Y'know how _friends_ do that to each other, _all_ the time?" Cleotra gave, thinking Grace was way off her rocker.

Takeshi's cheeks reddened a little at the jest Stephanie made. "It's not a date. We're just going to hang out." He protested.

Stephanie smirked at him. "But you _do _think she's hot!" she teased.

Takeshi's blush deepened a smidge and he looked away from Stephanie. "No… Well, maybe…"

"HA! I knew it! You _liiiiiiiiiike _her!" Stephanie exclaimed, jumping out in front of him so she could catch his expression, which was priceless.

"I- ugh! Steph, stop! I don't know how I feel about her. Some stuff happened last night. I just want to make sure she and I are on friendly terms, if anything…" he informed, slowing down his speaking pace as he spoke.

Stephanie nodded in the most unbelieving way before nudging him again. "I wanna hear ALL about your date during fourth!" she demanded as she started to walk away from him. "I mean DETAILS mister!" she exclaimed and pointed at him as she found a table and sat down at it.

Alexianna approached Takeshi, lunch in hand and a soft smile on her face. "Where do you wanna sit?" she asked.

Takeshi tilted his head at her before responding. "Follow me." He instructed as he started to walk down the hallway, away from the cafeteria.

Confused, Alexianna started to follow, not sure of where they were going. "We're not eating in the cafeteria?" she inquired.

"Just follow me." Takeshi re-iterated. Alexianna frowned at him as she continued to follow, not liking being left in the dark about where they were going.

After what seemed like a millennia of walking in silence among the halls of Arcadia Academy, Takeshi opened a door that led outside of the building and gestured for Alexianna to go through it. She tilted her head at him, expecting an explanation.

"Just trust me." He gave as his 'explanation'.

"Why should I?" she demanded, crossing her arms as she did.

"You wouldn't have followed me all this way if you didn't trust me." Takeshi countered, gesturing towards the door he was still holding open for her.

She shifted her weight. "Ever heard of curiosity?" she returned, as if they were playing a game of badminton, only wit was their birdie.

Takeshi sighed. "Hey, it's your call." He gave, pretending to be defeated as he went through the door himself.

Alexianna watched the door slowly swing back and close with a clang, which made her jump a little. She looked around, scoffed a little, then returned her focus on the door.

"Damn."

She went through the door to discover a beautiful rose garden. Red roses, white roses, pink roses. She stood there, frozen in utter disbelief of all the beauty surrounding her.

Takeshi was sitting at a little table, accompanied by two chairs, that hade an antique look to them and matched the garden nicely.

"How did you find this place?" Alexianna asked, still suffering from shock as she slowly walked over and joined Takeshi at the table.

"A little exploring. Me and Steph took a detour to English class. They have a bunch of gardens here apparently." Takeshi explained.

Alexianna was dazed by the utterly gorgeous scenery. "It's so beautiful."

"You like it?" Takeshi asked slightly tentative.

Alexianna nodded at him with a small smile, careful not to activate her powers. She cracked out her lunch, and Takeshi followed suit.

"So, where are you from?" Alexianna asked him, wanting to start a conversation.

"Neo Domino. You?" he quickly shifted focus to her, not wanting to talk about himself too much.

"Versailles. I love France, it's so much different than here. All of your lit up skyscrapers and duelling on motorcycles on a bridge. We're a little behind the times, I guess you could say. This garden reminds m of home so much." Alexianna divulged.

Takeshi smiled at her, glad she was opening up to him. "It sounds lovely." He commented.

Alexianna returned his smile and nodded. "So, how did you end up in Arcadia Academy?" she inquired.

Takeshi froze mid-bite of a sandwich he had unwrapped. "I, uh, don't like to talk about it…" he replied a lot slower than he had been speaking this entire time.

"Oh. I'm sorry…" Alexianna trailed off awkwardly.

Takeshi cleared his throat. "Anyways, how are liking the classes here?"

They kept making conversation throughout lunch, clearing any bad air that there was between them. It would make a nice memory for them.

/

Ryuusei looked up from a file he was reading to see an icy haired girl in beige pants, a beige button up coat, white gloves and a dark blue scarf staring at him, arms crossed.

"M-may I help you?" he asked, a little reminded of Setsuka…

"I'm Xerxes. You called me down?" She gave straight forward to him.

"Oh! Of course, sit down." Ryuusei replied, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk. "How may I help you?"

"I need to switch my classes." She gave bluntly, not wanting to drag the process out.

Ryuusei frowned. "I'm sorry, you cant do that. You're in age group classes. You have to stay with your level."

Xerxes hardened her gaze, which started to make Ryuusei uncomfortable. "Are you sure you cant make an exception?" she gave monotonously.

Ryuusei went through Xerxes' file. It had her age down as 13 with a question mark beside it. Was the school unsure of how old she was? "How old are you?"

"… Would you believe me if I said I was 16?" she questioned, though it seemed more like a threat than a question.

Ryuusei looked from Xerxes, to the file, then to Xerxes again. "How about 15?"

"Would I be in Hino's class?" Xerxes asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He shuffled some files around. "I can make an exception. Are you a gifted student?"

"Aren't we all?" Xerxes jested.

Ryuusei sighed and pulled up a time table with the 16-year-old age group class and handed it to Xerxes. "I'm putting you on a probationary period with the class switch. If you have any problems, just sign up for another appointment."

"How long is the probationary period?" Xerxes asked, looking at the time table.

"A month." Ryuusei answered, then stood up. "Thank you for not signing up just to gawk at me."

Xerxes stood and nodded, getting what she wanted from the guidance counsellor. She left and headed for her new class; English with Carly-sensei.

Xerxes entered the class to find four people, all sitting far away from each other except for Jeff and Hino. Everyone looked to her, surprised to see her standing in the door.

"Xerxes!" Hino exclaimed, gesturing her over.

Xerxes smirked and sat next to Hino in the vacant desk next to her. Hino looked overjoyed at her friend's presence. Jeff wasn't nearly as giddy.

"Xerxes, have you transferred into my class?" Carly asked the girl. Who nodded and handed her teacher the new time table she had received from Ryuusei.

Carly looked it over and shrugged. "Alright. Welcome to English. Here's your copy of Macbeth. We're working on a work sheet right now, it's a pre-reading exercise. Hino can catch you up on what to do." Carly instructed as she handed the multi-eye coloured girl a work sheet and returned to her desk, nearly tripping twice.

"How did you get into this age group?" Hino asked surprised.

"Pulled a few strings. What are we supposed to do?' She asked.

"You have to draw a picture of your pre-conceived idea of Lord Macbeth. Once we're done the book, we do another drawing of him that should end up being a lot different from the first one." Hino explained.

"Easy enough. Hey Lancelot. I heard you found yourself a Guinevere." Xerxes teased.

Jeff sighed and ignored her before getting back to work on his drawing.

Xerxes chuckled before setting to work on her own drawing. Xerxes' drawing ended up looking like a very violent psychopathic murderer that somewhat resembled Jack Atlas. There was a lot of gore and blood in drawing.

"That's… Neat." Hino attempted to cover up her concern for her friend.

Xerxes very slightly smiled. "Thanks. I really like drawing."

"I can see that." Hino faked a positive attitude, very concerned and scared over the graphic drawing.

"Hey Hino, check out mine." Jeff grabbed her attention and presented his drawing with a snarky look on his face.

The drawing was of Xerxes dressed as a King. Xerxes gave him an extremely cold look, which he shrunk back under, almost peeing himself.

The 5 students handed in their drawings and Carly continued the lesson with more pre-reading exercises.

/

Psychic abilities class finally rolled around, much to the student's excitement.

Aki took her place at the front of the classroom and wrote a word on the board.

"Power?" Hino whispered to Xerxes. A couple of the other students whispered as well until Aki clapped her hands and made them stop.

"Power. What is the definition of power?" Aki asked, waiting for a student to raise their hand.

Cleotra's hand shot straight up.

"Yes, Cleotra?" Aki called on her.

"Power has no set definition, because it applies to so many people in so many different ways." She answered.

Aki nodded her head. "How does power apply to you then? Care to show us?" Aki gestured to the front of the class, beckoning the platinum blonde forward.

Cleotra stood up and approached the front of the class. "Can someone turn off the lights?" she asked. A student at the back of the class flicked a switch and the room became a lot dimmer, though there were still windows in the classroom to let the light in.

Cleotra's attention went straight to the remaining light source in the room, while all other sets of eyes were on her. After a few moments, her form convulsed and she turned into a black orb of matter that resembled smoke. Two little spheres of white light appeared with the black smoke which resembled eyes and the orb bounced around the room, settling in the darkest area of the room where it grew a bit in size.

The entire class was shocked and started excitedly whispering to each other, some pointing at her, others just standing there, mouth agape.

The orb bounced over to another dark corner where it seemed to disappear. Everyone was silent. The student at the back of the classroom flicked the light switch again, and Cleotra re-appeared in her regular form, leaning on the wall, eyes closed.

When she opened her eyes, everyone clapped.

She smirked and bowed to Aki before taking her seat again next to Grace.

"That certainly was power. Who else has a definition of power?" Aki dived back into the lesson. She scanned the room, no one raised their hands.

Aki took another scan of the room and her eyes landed on Hino.

"Hino. Show us what power is to you." Aki voluntold and moved over to give the pinkette the floor.

Hino, shocked that she was chosen, slowly stood up. She looked back to Xerxes nervously who rolled her eyes at her and gestured her hand towards the front of the room. Hino gave her ice-haired friend a glare before kept moving slowly to the front. When she reached her 'spotlight' at the front of the room, she looked across the crowd, feeling a little nervous. Her eyes finally landed on Jeff, who was sitting alone and smiling at her, the look in his eyes saying 'you can do this'.

She took a shaky breathe. "I need a book." She blurted, still looking at Jeff.

Jeff grabbed a small, leather journal from his book bag and brought it up to the front for her. He laid it on the desk in front of her and gave her arm a reaffirming squeeze.

"Go for it." He whispered to her, giving her a sweet smile.

She nodded to him, a little more confidence filling her. Jeff backed up a couple steps, still smiling. In the back, a furious Kheika was turning red with anger and possessiveness.

Hino focused on the book, staring at it hard for many minutes. For a while, nothing happened. A couple students groaned in annoyance. Their impatience, instead of faltering her, angered Hino, and she used it to fuel her concentration.

The book started to levitate.

The students, no completely focused on her, watched in awe as Hino raised her hand a bit, making the book follow suit. She moved her hand side to side, which the book copied identically.

Jeff let a proud smile spread across his face as he watched Hino control the book.

When she finally put the book down, she gained a huge applause from the class.

Aki felt pride and success filling her up, and it was only the second day.

END

This is obviously the longest chapter I've done so far. I'm hoping to keep making them about this length, which is 3000 words. A lot of people wanted to see more powers for the psychic class, plus it helps advance one of the sub-plots I have going. If you just submitted your character with the basic psychic power, I'm going to need you to PM a possible 'special' power I can use for this class.

Review please! Or I'm turning Ryuusei and Setsuka ugly. No one likes it when the pretty people turn ugly. So review!


	8. Chapter 7: Left in the Dark

Hey guys. Please don't kill me for the late update. This week has been pretty hectic. However, here I am, updating. Because I love you guys.

Left in the Dark

Ryuusei sat in his office alone for the first time that day. A week had passed since he first started taking appointments from the students at Arcadia Academy, and every day that week he had been harassed and violated in so many different ways by the majority of the female population in the school, and even some of the boys too.

"I'm going crazy." He muttered to himself as he stared at the fresh sign up sheet he had printed to put up on his door for the next school day.

He started to reach for the paper, but it was snatched up by a pale, slender, familiar hand. Ryuusei looked up to see Shimotsuki Setsuka standing in front of him, holding his form of misery in her hand loosely.

"You need a break." Setsuka stated plainly. Ryuusei didn't even bother arguing. She was right.

"How-?" Ryuusei started to speak, but Setsuka put up a hand as she sat down in the chair on the opposite side of his desk.

"This school is full of hormonal teenagers, it doesn't take a genius to figure out you're being run ragged by the girls here. The same has been happening to me." She explained coolly, with an edge of sarcasm at the appropriate moments. Setsuka started to fold the page in her hand, not seeming focused on the current discussed topic.

"Why are you here?" Ryuusei asked bluntly, knowing Setsuka most likely wanted to get straight to the point of her visit.

Setsuka looked up from the folded paper and sat up a bit. "Your mother has bigger plans for the students here than just giving them a safe school." Setsuka began.

Ryuusei shifted in his seat, leaning forward a little in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

Setsuka conjured up a file that Ryuusei hadn't noticed and handed it to him. "She's managed to assemble some of the most gifted psychics of our generation and stuffed them all in this school." Setsuka continued as Ryuusei opened the file.

The file had the profiles of 6 students, Ryuusei and Setsuka, and 1 person who was transferring to Arcadia Academy as soon as possible.

"Who's Sigi Jones?" Ryuusei asked Setsuka, who seemed to be in the know of this secret situation.

"She's a clairaudient and an extremely powerful psychic. Your mother must have discovered her last week, after the school term had started." Setsuka answered.

Ryuusei scanned over some of the profiles in the folder. Hino Kizana, Xerxes Hydro, Kheika Muenoru, Takeshi Ishihara, Cleotra Jennings and Jeff Hollander. The profiles included extremely personal information that Ryuusei felt uncomfortable even just glancing over. They had all their medical histories, personality profiles, even information about their relatives and sexual history was encompassed in the profiles. But most glaringly, a page each dedicated to a study of their psychic abilities.

"Why are these profiles so in depth? Why do they even exist?" Ryuusei demanded of Setsuka.

"That's why I'm here. Since this involves both of us, I'm not considering this a favour from you, but more so a collaborated effort. Are you in?" She asked, her icy gaze never breaking contact with his own stoic view.

Ryuusei thought about it, or at least tried to under the Ice Princess' stare. This seemed incredibly suspicious. Why have a folder with only certain student's profiles in it that completely violate any semblance of privacy they ever had? Why these 9 people singled out? Then again, this was his mother, someone he had spent his life trusting…

Until just recently when he found out his conception had been a lie.

"I'm in." he declared. Setsuka nodded and gave a small smile at the new partnership.

"Any ideas? Izayoi _is_ your mother." Setsuka ventured.

Ryuusei returned his focus to the file while he pondered the possibilities of what his mother's intention could be. At the moment, nothing came to mind. "I'll have to go over the profiles and think about it. Right now, I can't be sure." Ryuusei admitted.

Setsuka nodded before starting to stand up. "Fair enough. Just drop by my room if you figure anything out." She instructed before leaving the office.

Ryuusei watched his new accomplice leave the room before looking back down to the file in his hand. His own profile caught his attention, and seemed to be the most in depth, detailed profile of the bunch. He read it over, not surprised at any of the information there. He came to the page with his psychic abilities detailed on it and read it over.

_Ryuusei has the ability to manipulate plant growth and activity. He needs a limiter to keep his powers in check. There are no restriction on which plants he can manipulate. Power level: 9/10. **POSSIBLE MORIO**._

"Possible Morio?" Ryuusei thought out loud almost inaudibly. "What's a 'Morio'?"

Ryuusei put the file down and pulled up his laptop, preparing to do some serious research.

/

Hino was starting to get extremely annoyed. Not only were Jeff and Kheika still together, but they made out in her dorm room _all the time!_ She couldn't ever go back to her room because there was always a tie on the doorknob or a note that said 'Don't Disturb'.

Today she found herself staring at a purple tie with little orchids all over it, hung loosely on the doorknob. It was as if the tie was chanting 'Nah nah nah nah nah!' at her while she stood there, helpless.

Xerxes walked up to her friend and followed Hino's line of sight to the tie.

"Again?" the bluenette drawled.

Hino nodded extremely silently. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

Xerxes rolled her eyes. "Oh for the love of-!"

Xerxes burst into the dorm room to find Kheika and Jeff making out on her bed, hair messed up and knotted, clothes wrinkled. Xerxes walked right up to Jeff and grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"What the-?!" he exclaimed as Xerxes literally threw him out of the room.

Xerxes turned back to Kheika, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the room. Xerxes then took the tie off the doorknob and flung it at Jeff.

"Go make out in _your_ dorm room for a change." Xerxes commanded Jeff as she grabbed Hino's wrist and pulled her into the dorm room, slamming the door after both were inside.

Hino stared at her younger friend blankly as the icy haired girl plopped down on Hino's bed.

"Thank you." Hino thanked as she sat down next to Xerxes.

Xerxes nodded. "No problem."

A few moments passed while both girls just blinked before Hino burst into tears.

Caught off guard, Xerxes freaked a little, not knowing what to do about her now-hysterical friend. Hino dropped her head into Xerxes' lap and curled up as she hugged herself.

Xerxes began to pet her friends hair, not really knowing what else to do in the current situation.

Hino kept crying and tried to explain through her sobs why she was so upset. "I just- I'm starting to really like him- y'know? Y'know how that happens when a person just grows on you? Especially when they know how to reassure you? Even when you doubt yourself they just- They feed you confidence! He does that! He did that during psychic abilities class-"

Xerxes clamped a hand over Hino's mouth as it dawned on her: She could use her powers.

Xerxes started to focus on Hino and felt Hino's stresses start to seep into her own body. Hino's eyes went wide in shock and panic, not knowing what Xerxes was doing. For all she knew, Xerxes could be trying to kill her.

After a while, however, Hino just seemed to relax. She didn't care about Jeff. She didn't worry about what Xerxes was doing to her. She was just calm.

Xerxes lifted her hand off of Hino's mouth and slumped a little in exhaustion from using her powers so intensely. Hino sat up and turned to her friend to thank her, but was distracted when she saw Xerxes start to tear up.

"What's wrong?" Hino asked, concerned but not as much as she usually would be since she was so relaxed and calm.

Xerxes let a few tears leak out of her frozen eyes. "How the hell do you get out of bed in the morning?" Xerxes whispered through chokes of sadness before going into a full on melt down.

Hino worriedly embraced her friend who clamped onto Hino's arm and sobbed for 20 minutes straight. It was weird to see Xerxes cry, since she seemed so strong and confident all the time. Hino didn't even know what her friend was so upset about, especially since she had been completely fine not 5 minutes ago.

Once Xerxes finally settled down, Hino straightened her up. "Why are you so sad?"

"I'm not. I took your stress away." Xerxes answered as she wiped some remaining tears away.

"You can do that?" Hino asked in disbelief, to which Xerxes nodded and sniffed a couple times.

Hino unexpectedly hugged her friend, thankful for what she had done for her. "I'm so lucky I have you as a friend."

Xerxes returned the embrace upon hearing Hino's words. She'd never forget that sentence for the rest of her life.

/

"That's it? That's all you guys did? You just talked?" Stephanie asked her friend in disbelief.

Takeshi simply nodded.

"And you've been doing the exact same thing everyday for a week now?" Stephanie asked again, still having a hard time believing it.

Takeshi nodded again.

Stephanie blinked.

She blinked again.

"DO YOU WANT TO BE FRIEND ZONED?" She exclaimed at her friend.

Takeshi raised an eyebrow at her. She was clearly over exaggerating.

"What should I do then..?" Takeshi asked slowly.

Stephanie crossed her arms and gave him a look that read 'are you really that stupid?'

"What..?"

"KISS HER!" Stephanie exclaimed and threw her arms up at the same time.

Takeshi turned a slight shade of red at her instruction. "Say it louder, I don't think the rest of the school quite heard you!" he said sarcastically and a little quicker.

"Sorry. But you should still do it!" Stephanie informed him.

Takeshi shook his head. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you like her, she's pretty, funny and spunky, and she likes you." Stephanie explained as she counted the reasons off on her fingers.

Takeshi turned even redder. "You think she likes me..?" he asked, getting a tiny bit excited.

Stephanie nodded at him like he was the dumbest guy in the world. "YEAH! Do you really think she'd have lunch with you on daily basis if she didn't? She has a bunch of other friends she could eat with. She's pretty popular. AND she even sits with you during class sometimes. That there is a girl who likes you." Stephanie explained, getting a little annoyed with Takeshi's romantic stupidity.

Takeshi shook his head again. "I don't know Steph…"

"I do. Tomorrow when you have lunch with her again, you are going to kiss her. Alright?" Stephanie instructed.

"I'll think about it. I got to go do some homework, I'll see you later Steph." Takeshi dismissed and quickly walked away.

/

Ryuusei had spent 4 hours researching the word 'Morio' and ended up on two websites: A Baby Names website and a website about ancient folk tales and legends. On the Baby Names website, 'Morio' came up as a name for a boy that meant 'forest son'. But that wasn't what intrigued him.

The folk tale website showed 'Morio' as an Elemental Magic user, who wielded the power of nature. He was one of nine users, and they were all referred to as Sages. They were highly respected among society and had a temple built in their honour. However, the nine users quarrelled constantly and were usually divided amongst each other in loyalty. The only one who could never choose a side was the Spirit Child, said to be the most powerful user of the bunch. It was arguable that the Light and Dark users were the most powerful, but most thought the Spirit Child held the most power.

One day, the Spirit Child had had enough of the fighting and left the Elemental Sages. Her name was Tamika. She went to a temple in another nearby city and prayed to the Crimson Dragon, asking it to show her the solution of all the quarrels. Kurayami, the Sage of Darkness popped out while Tamika was praying and blasted her with dark magic in an attempt to kill her. The Crimson Dragon managed to reach down and save a sixth of Tamika's soul, sparing her life. However, the five other pieces of her soul blasted out and turned into five other people, all of whom were evil and tried to destroy the city. In the end, Tamika sacrificed herself to destroy the five evil pieces of herself and saved the city. The eight other Sages all disappeared after her sacrifice and were never seen again.

Most believed that the eight other Sages couldn't live without Tamika and withered away within days of her death. Some simply thought that they mourned Tamika for eternity, alone in some deserted land, far away from civilization. All held great power and are believed to be the Gods of the Elements.

Ryuusei pondered the legend. Could this be what his mother was interested in? Was he one of the nine Elemental Sages?

It was a possibility. He'd have to tell Setsuka in the morning. For the time being, he went back to his room and fell unconscious as soon as he plopped on his bed.

'_What are hiding, mother?'_

END.

Cliff hanger. WOOT. Review please!


	9. Chapter 8: Unravelling

I cant believe the huge response I'm getting on this story! 67 reviews at eight chapters! Thank you guys so much! You're all so awesome! Now, onto the chapter!

Unravelling

Ryuusei found himself with the day off as a Guidance counsellor and decided to track down Setsuka and get cracking on this whole secret file business.

He approached her door and knocked gently, file in hand as well as the Sage Legend printed and in it's own file to show his partner in case she didn't believe him or he forgot a few details.

Setsuka answered, still dressed in her nightwear, consisting of dark blue silk pyjamas and a matching house robe. She looked put together somehow. Maybe it was just her natural elegance and chilling beauty…

"I assume you have a lead?" Setsuka questioned as she stood in the door way, but shifted to let the black and red haired young adult in the room.

Ryuusei entered the room and opened the folder with the Elemental Sage Legend in it and handed it to the Ice Queen. Setsuka took the printed pages and read them over as she sat on her bed, leaving Ryuusei to just awkwardly stand there while she read.

When she finished reading it, she put the papers back in the folder and looked up at Ryuusei.

"This is a strong possibility. In fact, I think this is what she's after." Setsuka informed, to which Ryuusei nodded, relieved that she agreed with his idea.

"The question now becomes: why? Why does she want to find these Sages?" Setsuka continued as she stood up and walked around the room a bit.

Ryuusei shifted his weight, pondering the question. "Well, in the legend, the Sages were brought together to protect the city, which they sacrificed their lives for. Do you think that's what my mom is doing? Gathering a group of protectors for Neo Domino?" Ryuusei offered.

Setsuka considered the observation. "That would mean Neo Domino is in danger."

Ryuusei's eyes widened slightly for a moment before returning to normal. How could Neo Domino be in danger? His father was watching over the city. The thought that the city was in danger frightened Ryuusei a great deal, though he wouldn't show it.

He hoped to Crimson that it wasn't the case.

/

Xerxes grumbled as she slowly and blurrily became conscious. She curled up under her blankets, finding new appreciation for the warmth the bedding brought her. She opened her eyes to take a glance at the clock on the wall above her and Alexianna's desk.

8:14 am

"Why…" the bluenette groaned as she repositioned herself and pulled the covers over her shoulders.

Alexianna walked out of the bathroom, all put together and ready for the day to begin.

"Morning!" she called to her roommate cheerily.

Xerxes lifted her head a little to give the french girl a drowsy glare and returned to her dormant position.

Alexianna rolled her eyes as she gathered a couple items and put them into her Arcadia Academy book bag.

"You should get up." Alexianna advised.

Xerxes threw the blankets off the top half of her body and sat up in frustration. "Why would I do that?" she asked, an underlying tone of annoyance and possibly anger resting under the phrase.

"It's Saturday! The earlier you get up the more free time you have to enjoy." Alexianna offered before slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"The later I sleep, the more sleep I can sleep." Xerxes responded tiredly as she fell back into her pillow and pulled the covers over herself again.

Alexianna shook her head at her roommate and left the dorm room, making sure to slam the door on her way out. The french duellist was pretty sure she heard Xerxes shout 'YOU BITCH' as she walked away from the room and down the hall.

Alexianna navigated her way through the school to the familiar lunching spot where she had promised to meet Takeshi. She arrived to find him already there, waiting for her. The meeting was an unspoken, unofficial date. At least that's how Alexianna viewed it.

She had been confused about the boy ever since the first fight they had, but the fog around the subject of Takeshi was starting to lift. She liked him. She was attracted to him. They tended to argue, but overall she really liked spending time with him. If he asked her out 'officially', she'd most likely say yes.

Takeshi turned when she entered the garden and smiled when he saw her. She hadn't done anything out of the ordinary with her appearance, he was just happy to see her.

"Hi." He greeted, still smiling.

"Hey." She responded. She couldn't help but smile back at him. He had an amazing smile, it was light and simple, yet brightened up any situation. It was also rare to see Takeshi genuinely smile, she cherished the moments when he did.

"You ready?" he asked, approaching her.

She nodded as he came within a foot of her. The proximity was making them both slightly anxious, her more so than him. He smirked a little and took hold of her hand.

"Let's go then…." He offered slowly as he started to lead her out of the garden.

She let him tug her along for a little, being in a jittery dream-state. He shook his head slightly at her. She was obviously nervous. It was… cute on her.

They reached the front of the school and walked out the main doors, Alexianna's brain finally catching up with her feet as they got into one of the cars Arcadia Academy owned for the students when they were allowed to leave the school on weekends. They still had curfew and they couldn't leave the city, but it was a shred of freedom and trust from the school that students appreciated.

"So where exactly are we going?" Alexianna managed to ask as she buckled her seat belt in the passenger's seat.

Takeshi slightly smirked again as he turned the engine of the car on and started driving. "I think you'll like it…"

/

Hino banged on the door for about the thousandth time.

"XERXES GET UP! IT'S 11:30 FOR CRIMSON'S SAKE!" Hino shouted through the door.

Xerxes threw something at the door that managed to pierce it's way halfway through the door. Hino opened the door, not caring if Xerxes got mad at her, and peered around the room to find Xerxes mangled up in her sheets, her pillow pulled over her ears.

Hino took a look at the object lodged in the door. It was either a large knife or a short sword. Hino yanked it out of the door and scanned it before returning her attention to the semi-dormant teenager.

"Why do you have a giant knife?" Hino asked as calmly as possible, not impressed with her friend.

"It's a sword." Xerxes grumbled.

"**Why do you have a **_**sword**_**?**" Hino asked with more intensity, correcting herself.

Xerxes sat up in annoyance, mush like she did when she was talking to Alexianna earlier that morning. "In case I have to kill someone." Xerxes replied matter-of-factly.

"You can't keep a _**sword**_ in your room, Xerxes!" Hino chastised, gesturing largely to the weapon in hand.

"UGH, you sound just like my old foster mom!" Xerxes grumbled, falling back into her pillow.

"I don't care- Wait, what?" Hino began to lecture, but stopped when she realised what Xerxes had said.

Realising what she had let slip, Xerxes grabbed her pillow and pulled it over her face before letting a scream escape her lips and muffle its way through the pillow. She lifted the pillow off her face and sat up again.

"I was adopted." The bluenette admitted.

Hino put the sword down on the desk and shut the dorm room door behind her before sitting cross-legged on the end of Xerxes' bed. "I had no idea…"

"I wouldn't expect you to." Xerxes gave dumbly as she began fiddling with her covers.

A moment of silence proceeded between the two. Hino looked dead on at Xerxes, who avoided eye contact and continued to fiddle with her blankets.

"It's no big deal really. I mean, I'm not with them anymore, so…" Xerxes trailed off, hoping that would suffice for Hino and they could get off the muddy topic.

"Were they- … Did they hurt you-"

"No! No. I-… They were fine. I just- Well… We didn't get along. That's all. So I went back." Xerxes interrupted and clarified.

"Back?" Hino inquired.

"Yeah. To the orphanage." Xerxes informed.

"Oh." Hino gave awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.

"Like I said… No big deal." Xerxes re-iterated.

Hino nodded with sad eyes, feeling deeply sorry for her friend. She must have gone through a world of pain. At least she seemed okay now… Or did she?

"I-I was bullied at my old school." Hino offered, wanting to reciprocate for Xerxes opening up to her about something so personal.

"Yeah?" Xerxes lifted her head and made eye contact with Hino, who wasn't so confident with the visual connection now that the focus was on her.

"Yeah. I hurt a couple boys who were teasing me with my powers. They called me a freak from then on. Nobody liked me anymore… They were-"

"Scared… I know the feeling." Xerxes finished for her and related.

Hino smiled and gave an awkward, breathy laugh. Xerxes managed to smile a bit as well. The two girls took a moment to appreciate their newfound trust before they resumed their earlier scenario.

"You need to get rid out of bed!" Hino broke their silent moment and grabbed a pillow to whack Xerxes with playfully.

Xerxes blocked Hino's initial swings and grabbed a pillow of her own to start beating her friend with. Hino started to lose sorely in the cushioned battle and got off the bed. Xerxes started to follow, but once she stepped off the bed she realised she was up.

"Now get dressed!" Hino instructed as she threw her pillow at the icy haired girl. "Or I won't pay for dinner tonight!"

"Wait, dinner?" Xerxes asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, we're going out tonight." Hino informed.

"We are?" Xerxes asked, still perplexed.

"Yes! Now hurry up! I want to hit the library before we go out anywhere, alright?" Hino instructed.

Xerxes sighed and raised an eyebrow at her friend before finally admitting defeat and decided to start getting dressed. She waited for Hino to leave before undressing, hoping that her friend didn't notice the blood that began to trickle down her arms and legs, staining her full length pyjamas.

/

"Sigi Jones?" Aki asked as an overly-bedazzled and glamorous girl strutted into her office.

The decked out disco girl nodded as she posed with her hands on her hips. The girl wore a gold onesy that was glittery and shimmered wherever the light hit it. She had sapphire platform boots that went up to her knees and were just as glittery as her onesy. She had a silver hooped belt that shined, and a purple and pink feathered scarf that had glitter all over it. Her hair was a bright red that was done extravagantly; strands and sections of hair went every which way and made her hair look like an exploding star or an elaborate fountain. Her make-up resembled her attire: glittery, disco, and unbearable to look at directly.

Aki nodded slowly, shocked to say the least at the girl in front of her. It was as if the entire 70s decade of attire came together and formed one giant monster of an outfit to represent the era.

"Welcome to Arcadia Academy Sigi-san. Here is all the information and supplies you'll need to attend our school." Aki welcomed as she handed Sigi some papers and a bundle of supplies.

"Thank you." She thanked before turning out of the office, a little rudely.

"It was nice meeting you…" Aki muttered as the girl disappeared.

Aki shook her head as she re-opened a file she had glanced at earlier. It was the file that contained the profiles of the suspected 9 Sages.

"Dear Crimson, if that girl is the Spirit Child, so help me…"

That was when she passed out.

END

Muahahaha! Cliff hanger! Love them. They keep you on you toes. If you submitted an OC, I need you to PM me as soon as you can. I must discuss top secret things with all of you! Until the next chapter, farewell!

Oh, review please!


	10. Chapter 9: Messages from Beyond

Hey guys! I'm back. I just want to thank you all again for your continued support! I do this for you guys. I love to write, don't get me wrong, but it's mainly for you guys!

I've talked to all the people I need to except Acer One Three Four. PLEASE PM ME! On with the chapter!

Messages from Beyond

Black.

At first that was all Aki could see. She tried bringing her hands up and waving them in front of her face, but it was no use.

She couldn't see anything.

Then a brightness hit her. She still couldn't see anything, since she was blinded by the bright light that seemed to melt her eyes with its intensity.

'_Aki…'_

"Who's there?" she called, holding a hand up to try and block some of the light.

'_Who I am is of no importance at this moment in time. You will come to know me soon enough. I have more pressing matters to discuss…'_

"What are you here for?" she questioned the anonymous voice, looking around to see if maybe the voice had a physical form that she hadn't spotted yet, but she found nothing. Nothing but white.

'_I need to caution you. You have collected all 9 Sages, but in the process you have collected their greatest enemies, in Spirit and in Soul…'_

"What? What are you talking about?" Aki asked in confusion. She had gathered the 9 Sages to protect the city. How could she have gathered the 'bad guys' that would try to destroy it at the same time?

'_In Spirit and in Soul, they will wreck your home and each other. Despair will become a great companion of yours. You have been warned...'_

"WAIT! What do you mean, 'Despair will become my companion,'? What do you mean?!" She cried out, still confused about the matter.

'_You will learn in time, the consequences of rushing fate. The only solace you may find is in the Shrine of the Soul. Farewell, gatherer…'_

"Shrine of the Soul? Wait! Where is that? Please! Answer me! Whoever you are! PLEASE!"

The whiteness became more intense, growing in brightness until Aki's form was obliterated with light.

Aki awoke from her unconscious state. Her head had been resting on her desk, but luckily she hadn't drooled all over her folders and files that laid on her desk's surface.

A headache overcame her and she clutched her forehead. The pain went as quickly as it came, which resulted her in becoming extremely nauseous.

Aki wobbly stood up and made her way carefully to the nearest washroom. After she finished up there, she slowly made her way back to her office where she sat down and tried to calm herself.

"Shrine of the Soul..?" she pondered as she sat back in her office chair. "Where could that be..?"

* * *

Takeshi pulled into the parking lot of a bowling alley. The building was a bright blue and had blue and gold light up words all over it.

Alexianna scrunched her nose at it a little before smirking a little at the teen next to her.

"Of course _you_ would choose this place to spend the day." She teased.

He tilted his head at her. "What's wrong with this place?" he asked her.

She looked toward the building and pursed her lips. "It's the cheesiest bowling alley I've ever seen."

Takeshi looked to the building. He scanned it's twinkling signs with neon lettering. "So? What's wrong with being a little cheesy sometimes?"

Alexianna sighed. "Nothing… I guess. I'm not much of a bowler though," she warned him, a comical smile playing on her lips, "You might walk out of here with a broken toe or two."

Takeshi softly laughed at her. "If I get a broken toe, I won't be _walking_ out of there, now will I?"

Alexianna rolled her eyes and scoffed as she exited the car. Takeshi smiled at her reaction before getting out himself. Alexianna had already started to make her way to the building. Seeing an opportunity, Takeshi swiftly caught up to her, sneaking his hand into hers, intertwining their fingers. They walked side by side, holding hands as they entered the building.

Alexianna thanked whoever managed the building for making it dark in the building and lighting everything with UV and neon lights, so that Takeshi couldn't see the furious blush on her face.

They approached the front desk and Takeshi ordered a lane, not letting go of her hand as he did. Once they received their lane number and rental shoes, they made their way over the assigned lane and started to put their shoes on.

Their lane, monitor and sitting area were all decorated with lime and fuchsia neon lights and flashing gutters coloured a questionable pink that looked to be a faded red.

"This is ridiculously cheesy!" Alexianna exclaimed as Takeshi put their names into the monitor.

"Why don't you request a song while I finish setting up the first game?" Takeshi suggested as he pushed a few colourful buttons.

Alexianna heeded the advice and requested a song at the front desk. On her way back to the lane she picked up an 8 pound bowling ball, coloured a bright orange in a marble design. She placed it on the machine at their lane and turned to Takeshi.

"What ball weight do you use?" she asked.

Takeshi's eyes widened and he choked on his own spit before he realized what she meant.

"Are you okay?" Alexianna asked, confused and a little worried. She patted his back a few times as he coughed a little and settled himself.

"Yeah. I'm fine. 14 pounder." He replied.

Alexianna nodded and went off to find him a ball. He finished setting up the game and stretched his arms out a little while he waited for her. She brought him back a blue, sparkly ball with a big '14' painted on it with orange neon paint.

He eyed the ball, letting a smile creep on his face. "Too much cheese?" he asked her.

"You think?" She replied, but put the ball down on the machine and got ready to play anyways. "Who goes first?"

"That would be you." He informed.

She smiled at him and picked up her orange ball and walked up to the high lighter yellow arrows in front of the lane. She took a deep breathe, swung low, took a few steps and released, all in one swift motion. She held the last position of her swing and watched the ball role down the lane. The ball curved a bit at the end of the lane and hooked between pins 1 and 3, knocking down 9 out of 10 pins.

Alexianna smiled before hopping up out of her position and slightly skipping back to the machine to wait for her ball to come up. Takeshi's jaw hung loose as he watched her wait. She caught his stare and did a double take before scrunching her eyebrows at him and mouthing a 'What?' at him.

"Not much of a bowler?" he gave in utter disbelief.

She didn't say anything in reply, she just winked and grabbed her ball before walking back to the bright arrows and knocking down the last pin.

* * *

Xerxes took the opportunity of Alexianna being out to take a shower. The bluenette despised showers, but they were a necessity.

She inched her way into the curtained of tub and into the searing hot water. Pain struck instantly under the steaming liquid and she quickly began cleansing. The sooner the shower was over, the better.

The wounds on her right shoulder, left thigh, lower back and feet all started to open up, the swirl of water around the drain darkening into a pinkish red. This happened everytime she bathed.

Despite the pain, Xerxes wanted to look presentable for the outing her and Hino were going to share today, and bathing was a necessity if she wished to accomplish that goal. So she whimpered and hissed, letting a few tears leak out of her multi-coloured eyes as the water continue to pour down on her.

Once the agony was finally over, she bandaged the wounds that had re-opened and dressed herself in warm clothing; pants, boots, long sleeved shirt, gloves, scarf and coat. She tied her damp hair back to keep it out of the way and headed over to Hino's dorm room.

Xerxes found the door open a few inches and the lights in the room shut off. Curious, she opened the door further with her two fingers and peered around the room. She thought she saw Hino in the darkness but couldn't be sure and turned on the lights.

There she was, on the floor, curled up in a ball, seemingly in pain. Xerxes rushed over to the pinkette and rolled her over. There were streaks of black make-up flooding down her cheeks, and her lipstick was smeared. She was wearing jeans and a white coloured bra, obviously in the process of getting ready for the outing. Her eyes were slightly open and dazed. She was unconscious, or close to it at least.

Xerxes shook her friend's shoulders slightly, trying to wake her. As she did, she noticed on her friend's arm an odd mark. She moved over to that area of her friend to get a better look at the marking. It was grey and looked like an alien symbol; a triangle with two waves going through it and a dot next to each point of the triangle. The skin around the symbol was extremely warm and throbbing.

"Hino…" Xerxes whispered, tracing the symbol with her finger.

The instant Xerxes touched the marking, Hino woke and screamed. The pink haired girl grabbed her arm and began crying in pain, groaning and hissing madly.

"Hino! Hino- it's okay! It's okay!" Xerxes called to her friend, trying to calm her down.

Hino curled up even tighter and kept groaning, tears flooding her face. Xerxes tried using her powers on Hino, focusing on the girl's pain rather than her stress. Hino calmed a slight bit, breathing heavily and whimpering. She brought her head up to look at Xerxes, her face a complete mess of misery.

"What's happening to me?" Hino whispered to her friend, agony lacing each of her barely audible words.

Xerxes shook her head. "I don't know…"

"What in the-"

Setsuka and Ryuusei were in the doorway of Hino's dorm room, staring at the two students in their predicament.

"What's wrong with her?" Setsuka asked Xerxes calmly as she walked over to her and kneeled to her level. Ryuusei followed suit and kneeled next to Setsuka after closing the dorm door.

"I-I don't know." Xerxes replied in shock.

Setsuka moved a chunk of hair out of Hino's face as the pinkette kept crying and whimpering. Ryuusei slightly winced at the sight, feeling terribly for the girl but tried to maintain his stoic expression.

Setsuka held a calm demeanour and scanned Hino for signs of injury or illness. She noticed the symbol on Hino's arm and let her hand hover over it, feeling the warmth from the girl's skin.

"Ryuusei. Look at this." Setsuka instructed.

Ryuusei looked at the symbol and frowned slightly. "What is this?" he mumbled, reaching to touch the girls arm but thought better of it and stopped his hand.

"Looks like we have our Wind Sage. The colour and design of the symbol are relatable to the element of wind, plus she manipulates wind to use her powers." Setsuka concluded.

Ryuusei looked to Setsuka in confusion. "How do you know that?"

"It's in her file." Setsuka clarified, returning her attention to the girl in pain.

Xerxes was completely lost and a little concerned about the situation. "What are you guys talking about?"

Ryuusei looked to Setsuka, who nodded. He looked back to Xerxes. "Your friend here is one of nine Sages from an old legend. Apparently the Chancellor has been rounding all nine of them up for some unknown reasons." Ryuusei explained.

Xerxes was in disbelief. "Sages? Legends? This makes no sense! What would the Chancellor want with a bunch of Sages?"

"Good question." Setsuka gave exasperated.

Xerxes gave Setsuka a dirty look, to which Setsuka remained unflinching.

"What Setsuka was trying to say is that we're as clueless as you." Ryuusei clarified.

Xerxes stood up and moved away from them. "Clearly not! _Clearly_ you guys know what's going on here! I want some answers! I want to know why Hino is curled up in pain right now from some mark on her arm!"

Setsuka stood and walked over to face Xerxes one on one. "Clam down. We're looking for answers too. We have some, but not all. Flying off the handle isn't going to help matters right now. Okay?"

Xerxes scowled at Setsuka before crossing her arms and nodding.

A moment of stillness passed between them with nothing but Hino's whimpers and crying to be heard.

"You really think she's the Wind Sage?" Ryuusei questioned Setsuka, gesturing to Hino as he did.

Setsuka nodded. "One down, eight to go."

* * *

Grace sat in the library alone. Cleotra was on duty as usual, but Grace wanted to be alone. She had snuck past her friend when first entering and sat in a little nook she had found that was meant for reading.

Grace had had a puzzling morning. She had woken up with a sore leg, thinking she had had a charley-horse or something, but had discovered a marking on her left thigh.

She studied the marking now. It was black, and was in the shape of a circle with one dot in the very middle and six dots around the outside of the circle. The skin around it was sore and red, as if something had given her a tattoo in her sleep. Something told her that wasn't the case.

She touched her mark, which glowed a dark purple at the contact. A dark feeling came over her when she did this, making her smirk devilishly.

"This should be fun."

END

Please review guys! And while you're at it, read my new story I put out, 'The Psychic Missionaries' and give me some feedback on that! Thanks guys! Please review!


	11. Chapter 10: Painful Promises

_**Here is the next update! Hopefully this chapter is more grammatically sound than the last. Enjoy!**_

Painful Promises

Xerxes sat on Kheika's bed, her shoulders slumped over and face dried up and itchy from old tears. She stared at Hino's form resting on her own bed.

"Who are the others?" Xerxes asked with a soft, thin voice.

Setsuka, who had been standing at the foot of Kheika's bed with her arms crossed, shifted her weight to face Xerxes. "We have our suspicions. Ryuusei may be one, though he has no mark."

"What element?" Xerxes asked, looking towards Ryuusei as she did.

Ryuusei was leaning on the desk, close to Hino's bed. He had been watching the Wind Sage like a hawk, monitoring her state in case something happened. He looked up when he heard his name spoken and turned his focus to Xerxes to answer her question. "Earth, probably."

"I see. Who else?" Xerxes continued, wanting to know more so that she could keep her mind off of Hino for a bit.

Setsuka sat on the chair that went with the desk, facing Xerxes. "As of right now, you and I are possible choices."

Xerxes straightened up instantly. "Wait a minute- I'm being dragged into this? Me?" Xerxes asked in disbelief.

"Who knows. It's just a suspicion. However, it's likely."

Xerxes shook her head before looking back to Hino. She felt terrible. She went over to Hino and knelt beside her bed, stroking her hair lightly. "It's bad enough my only friend at this school is a part of this stupid thing. Now I have to go through this too?"

"Consider yourself lucky that you have a forewarning," Setsuka replied, not wanting to deal with Xerxes going off about how unfair the whole predicament was. "Hino had no idea of what is happening to her right now. She's delirious, she's in pain. At least you know it's coming."

Xerxes said nothing. She just continued to stroke Hino's hair, looking at her friend with despair.

_How did we get sucked into this?_

"I won!" Alexianna announced for the hundredth time as her and Takeshi left the bowling alley. Takeshi rolled his eyes at her as they made their way to the car in the parking lot.

"I know, I was there." Takeshi gave annoyed.

Alexianna took the hint and stopped. They got into the car, Takeshi taking the driver's seat, and set out.

"Where do you want to eat?" Takeshi asked her as they got onto an expressway.

Alexianna hummed as she pondered the question, going through a mental list of culinary choices in her head.

"Ah-" Takeshi hissed as he grabbed his left shoulder.

"What is it?" Alexianna asked, worry starting to enter her features.

"My shoulder…"He managed as he winced at the growing pain.

"I-is it bleeding, or…?" Alexianna questioned, her brow beginning to sweat.

"I don't- AH!" He screamed, gripping his shoulder.

Alexianna started hyperventilating with each groan and scream Takeshi let out. She reached out and tried to calm him, but it was no use.

"Takeshi! It's okay, calm down!" She tried to instruct, but he ignored her and kept screaming in pain, on the brink of passing out.

Takeshi took his other hand off the steering wheel of the car and clutched his shoulder with both hands. Alexianna noticed this and tried to grab the steering wheel, but Takeshi screamed and convulsed in pain, knocking her back and accidentally hit the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve out of its lane.

"TAKESHI!"

The car crashed into a passing van, throwing both back and forth in their seats. Both of their forms slumped over onto the wheel and dashboard, unconscious.

Grace peered around a shelf, spotting Cleotra at her desk organizing some books. Grace casually strolled up to the desk and made it look like she was just entering the library. Cleotra looked up from her organizing and looked up at her friend, smiling.

"Hey," Cleotra greeted.

Grace nodded back. "How's your day been?"

"Repetitive," Cleotra shook her head. "Yours?"

Grace took a moment to find the right word to describe her day so far. "Enlightening," she finally replied.

Cleotra frowned, a little confused at her friend's reply. "Okay… Why is that?"

Grace lifted her leg and planted her foot on the surface of Cleotra's desk, making her new mark fully visible to the blonde psychic. "This," She said darkly.

Cleotra's eyes widened a little at the marking. She leaned in and started to examine it, almost daring to touch it as she felt her hand reach to trace it, but she stopped herself. "Wh-where d-d-did you get th-that?"

Grace smiled at the marking. "I didn't 'get' it. It appeared on me this morning. Like a blessing in disguise." Grace replied dreamily, causing fear to start in Cleotra's gut.

"A _blessing_?" Cleotra asked, somewhat sceptic.

Grace's smile turned into a full on smirk. She lifted her foot off the desk and did a half turn, blasting a window and shattering it with a black and purple orb of energy she produced within a matter of seconds in her hands. She planted herself and looked at the destroyed window with satisfaction. Her marking glowed a dark purple, as if it had been activated somehow.

Cleotra stood there, stunned at what she had just witnessed. "What the..?"

"Such a blessing." Grace commented, admiring her work. She looked back to Cleotra for approval, who just kept looking at the window in frightened awe.

Cleotra twitched a little as she looked over to Grace, half concerned, half afraid. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Perfect. I feel absolutely perfect," Grace celebrated, letting a smile of glory take over her features, "I feel… completed."

"C- C-Completed?" Cleotra whispered, disbelief taking her over. '_This isn't like Grace at all…' _

"Yes!" She announced joyously.

Cleotra fumbled with some books. She gathered some and walked off to the shelves, needing to get away from her friend. Or was that her friend..? Cleotra placed the books in their proper places, reaching up to a higher shelf to put the last few away. As she reached, her sleeve pulled back, revealing a black symbol shaped in a triangle with a clover like shape in the middle of it on her wrist. The symbol caught her attention, causing the memories of pain and agony of when she first received the mark to flash through her mind.

"Will I..?" she mumbled to herself, and then quickly shook her head before returning back to her desk.

"LEX!"

Kheika's face was smothered in liquid make-up and swollen flesh. She was being held back by a police officer as she tried to fight her way to the ambulance that was loading her friend up and preparing to send her away.

"I'm sorry Miss, but you need to step back-"

"No! You don't understand! That's my friend in there! She's hurt! I have to see her!" She protested as she shoved the officer out of her way, only to be halted by another.

"Starr, come on." Jeff coaxed his girlfriend, but she ignored him.

"LEX!" She screamed again, scrambling against the officer.

Jeff approached her and took hold of her form, pulling her into him as she gave up her attempts at getting to Alexianna.

"Sh… It's okay. She'll be okay." Jeff assured the hysterical girl as he stroked her hair.

She buried herself in his chest and simply cried. Her tears stained Jeff's shirt, but he didn't care, he just kept stroking her long, black hair, trying his best to calm her.

"This is so stupid…"she whispered into his chest.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"I barely know her…We've been friends for two weeks… I don't get it…" She slowly confessed through sobs and sniffs.

Jeff nodded in understanding as he watched the ambulance pull away from the scene, taking Alexianna and Takeshi away with it.

"Neither do I," he replied honestly. "Neither do I…"

/

"What?!" Aki yelled into her phone. The Chancellor paced around the room, her palms becoming moist and face growing red with stress and anger.

"We need you to come down to the hospital as soon as you can." The police officer on the other end of the line informed the red head.

Aki sighed out of aggravation. "Alright, I'll be there." She replied and flipped her phone shut.

Aki buried her face in her hands and let out a muffled scream. "The first week…" she mumbled into her palms.

She dropped her hands and shoved her phone into her purse which she slung over her shoulder as she rushed out the door. "How did this happen?" she asked herself.

Ryuusei rounded the corner to the hallway his mother was walking down and halted when he saw her. He observed her stressed and frantic state, worry filling his mind but leaving his features untouched.

"What's going on?" He asked her as she started to pass him. He started walking with her, managing to keep up with her speedy pace.

"There was an accident. I'm heading to the hospital right now." Aki replied quickly, trying to remain professional and detached.

Ryuusei inhaled silently in shock. "Was anyone hurt?"

Aki turned her eyes to him and nodded. Ryuusei frowned slightly as they kept walking towards the front entrance.

"Are you coming with me or staying here?" Aki asked.

Ryuusei thought about it quickly. "I'm coming."

Aki nodded again as they made their way out of the building and towards the Chancellor's car.

Hino stirred as she woke. She opened her eyes to see Xerxes in front of her, her friend's face composed of concern.

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Xerxes questioned lightly as Hino began to sit up.

Hino squinted a little, the sudden exposure to the light in her room caused her head to pound a bit and cast a dizzy spell on her, making her stomach upset. "Water," she answered, her voice raspy and tired.

Xerxes nodded and grabbed a water bottle from her friend's purse. "Here."

Hino took the offered water bottle and took a small sip. The water helped a little with the grogginess, she noticed, taking another sip.

"What happened?" Hino asked, still confused about what had happened to her.

Xerxes looked to her friend's arm where the gray mark of the Wind Sage rested. Hino noticed her friend's line of sight and looked to her arm.

"That mark…"Xerxes began quietly.

Hino scanned the symbol, feeling a familiarity wash over her and a sense of duty rise inside of her. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Xerxes noticeably relaxed at the statement. A frown rested on her face, however, as she recalled Setsuka telling her she would experience a mark as well.

"You're a legendary Sage, apparently," Xerxes informed.

Hino looked to her friend, nodding slightly. "I know."

"I didn't know you could control wind with your psychic powers. Aerokinesis, right?" Xerxes remarked.

Hino smiled softly. "Yeah. I don't usually do that unless I'm angry," she clarified.

Xerxes nodded and stood up from her spot on Hino's bed. "You should rest." Xerxes suggested as she started to make her way to the door.

Hino shook her head. "I've had lots of rest. We should go out to dinner like we planned."

"We're not allowed out," Xerxes informed her. "Plus, it's 10 pm. It's a little late to go out. I can get you some food though."

Hino shook her head again. "No, thanks."

Her stomach churned as the thought of food entered her mind, making her nausea grow even worse.

"Alright, just come get me if you need anything, alright?" Xerxes instructed.

Hino nodded to her as Xerxes left the room. Hino sighed, looking to her arm.

"This should be interesting…"

END

_**So sorry this is late you guys! I've been surprisingly busy with many different agendas this past week. Review and let me know what you think!**_

_**Beta'd by lalunaticscribe LLS**_


	12. Chapter 11: Discoveries

_**Hey guys! Sorry, this is super late, and I feel really bad. This won't happen again! Just the holidays, and the fact that I share this machine with 3 other people. I'm getting a laptop sometime next week though! So expect updates galore! Onward! To the chapter!**_

Discoveries

Hino walked into Psychic Abilities class with Xerxes as usual the next day. She had worn a leather jacket today instead of her usual vest to cover up her new mark on her shoulder.

"I heard they fell off a bridge-"

"I heard Takeshi went crazy and dove right into a ditch-"

"I heard Lexi was yelling at him and he rammed into someone else on accident-"

Hino looked around at all the gossiping students curiously. Something was different.

"What are they talking about?" Hino asked her friend, confused.

Xerxes rolled her eyes as she leaned over to whisper a response in her friend's ear, "Lexi and Takeshi got into a car crash yesterday."

Hino's eyes widened in shock and concern, "Does anyone know what happened?"

Xerxes gestured to the class, each student was enthralled in a conversation or whispering fest.

"What do you think they're all whispering about? Nobody knows except the two who were actually there," Xerxes clarified, repressing the urge to vomit at her fellow classmates.

Hino nodded in understanding. She was about to say something else when Chancellor Izayoi walked in. All the students shut their mouths at the sight of her. Aki looked awful.

"Alright class," Aki started off, a little softer and more monotonous than usual, "Today is going to be a work day. You'll each grab a partner and discuss your power you wield with each other, and how you could fuse those powers together to accomplish different goals. I'll be at the front here if anybody needs me."

The class began the instructed activity as Aki slowly went to sit down at a desk. Hino observed the teacher with concern. The woman was obviously stressed and sleep deprived, dark purple surrounding the bottoms of her eyes, the rest of her skin pale as the white walls of an infirmary.

Hino turned to Xerxes, her partner for the class' activity, with a deeply worried look on her face, "Do you think she'll be okay?"

Xerxes looked at her teacher for a few seconds, watching her slowly take a sip of water from a plastic water bottle.

"She looks like hell, but it's Izayoi. She's been through worse. Much worse," Xerxes responded, confident in her teacher's resilience.

Hino nodded, accepting her friend's answer and returning her focus to the class activity, "So, how can we fuse levitation with stress relief?"

"I think our powers are a little more advanced than that. I'm sure you can do more than just make things levitate," Xerxes opinionated.

Hino gave a small huff before lifting a book with her powers and dropping it on Xerxes' head.

"OW! What was that for?" The bluenette questioned, aggravated.

Hino leaned in, "For exploiting me," she whispered.

Xerxes leaned in as well, "What? You're the Wind Sage, aren't you? You've got to be able to do more than just-"

"Enough."

Hino leaned back in her chair and averted eye contact with her friend. She grabbed a sheet of paper and started brainstorming ways of fusing levitating objects with pulling stress from people, ignoring any complaints Xerxes made.

Jeff, bored with the task dealt by the Chancellor – but most of all his girlfriend – searched the room for Hino. His eyes landed on her, observing her defensive, put-off state. He stood up and went over to her, ignoring Kheika's attempts at calling him back over to her.

She hadn't even noticed him until he had tapped her on the shoulder where her mark was. Upon contact, a flash went off inside both their heads. Another flash went off as they made eye contact, this one ringing with pain.

The pain was gone within seconds, replaced with confusion on both ends.

"Are you alright?" Jeff asked her, certain she had just experienced what he had.

"I'm… I don't know," she answered, perplexed.

"Walk with me," Jeff commanded as he gently pulled her up by her arm.

Hino made no attempt to get away from him and followed him into the hallway outside the classroom. He linked his arm with hers as they proceeded down the narrow corridor.

"How are you?" He started off.

Hino shrugged, "I've been alright-"

"No- How _are_ you? I know I haven't been talking to you as much cause of Kheika and all," he gave, shame starting to present itself in his demeanor.

"So? You're not obligated to me. We barely know each other."

"Still," Jeff pressed as he moved in closer to her, "I care about you. A lot, actually."

Hino hesitated a moment before speaking, "Then how come you're with her?"

Jeff couldn't think of an answer. He stood there, looking at Hino and just realizing then how much hurt there was in her eyes. Even in such a state she was remarkably beautiful. Why _was _he with her? Why _wasn't_ he with Hino?

"Jeff! Hino! Get back in the classroom!"

Hino took a step towards Jeff, searching for an answer from him. When none came, she turned and headed back to class, leaving him to stare after her in the middle of the empty hallway.

"Damn it…" He muttered to himself before following her back to the classroom.

* * *

Alexianna's eyes fluttered open to a blur of white. Her senses started to slowly come back to her, one by one, as she tried to figure out where she was.

"Where am I?" She murmured as she tried to sit up.

"Lex?" A masculine voice called.

The voice was familiar to her. It was comforting and gentle and… Slow.

Takeshi.

"Takeshi? Takeshi!" She cried as her eyes focused on his form, the blurriness dissipating.

She scrambled off her bed, the pain and soreness from her wounds finally deciding to take their toll. She did her best to ignore the pain and staggered over to the person she considered to be her boyfriend.

"Hey, Lex…" He greeted slower than usual.

She scanned his body, finding bruises and cuts everywhere she looked. His knee was in a brace, and his arm was wrapped up and in a sling.

"Look at you," she whispered, her eyes darting from injury to injury.

"It's not that bad…" He countered her as he struggled to sit up.

She took his good arm and helped him sit upright in his bed, wincing as a pain shot through her hand.

"Are you okay?" He asked in concern, as if she was the one in the sling and brace, unable to move.

"Am _I _okay? Have you seen yourself?"

"It's just a couple scrapes and bruises, nothing to fuss over…"

Alexianna rolled her eyes at him, "You don't need to act all tough and manly. Especially not right now."

"I'm not," he argued, "I'm completely fine! Look," he instructed as he lifted his good leg up and down a couple times, "See? Mobility. I'd go back to school right now if they'd let me!"

Alexianna couldn't help but smile at his determination, it was one of his best qualities, she deemed.

"You need to rest," she ordered, fixing his blankets up for him.

Takeshi grabbed her wrist with his good hand, "So do you." He patted a spot on his bed for her, shifting over a bit to make more room in the indicated area for her.

The French girl rolled her eyes, but hopped up on the bed anyways, "Fine."

Takeshi smiled softly as she climbed up next to him. He lifted the blanket for her to climb under with his good hand, which she wormed her way under. He put his good arm around her, more so protectively than romantically, and held her small frame close to him.

"I'm sorry."

Alexianna looked at him like he was the dumbest person in the world.

"What? This isn't your fault!" She argued.

"Yes it is," he shot back, guilt starting to swell inside of him.

"Takeshi, that mark numbed your arm because of how much pain it caused you. You couldn't help it," She pointed out.

"Still, I could've slammed the breaks, or… Something…"

Alexianna frowned at him, witnessing the guilt rise up in his features. She moved some of his long, black hair out of his face, leaving her hand to rest on his on cheek. He looked at her, trying to hide his guilt but failing. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find any words to express what he wanted to.

So he just kissed her instead.

She was completely caught off-guard by the kiss, but returned it none the less. It only lasted for a few moments, but the kiss was soft, gentle, sweet.

They pulled away, leaving Alexianna trembling slightly, "Wh-what was that for?"

Takeshi softly smiled and lightly kissed her forehead, "… Just, for being you."

Alexianna couldn't help but a smile a little at his comment as she was brought into an embrace.

"Time for your daily physicals- Oh my!" A nurse called as she entered the room to see the two teens together in each other's arms.

Alexianna groaned mentally,_ 'Perfect timing…'_

* * *

Stephanie paced in between the beds in her dorm room, "What the hell is this?"

"It's a gift."

Stephanie whirled around to see her roommate – Grace – standing in the doorway of the bathroom, smiling in a devious nature at her.

"This?" Stephanie asked sceptically as she pointed to a black marking on her hand.

The marking was in the shape of a circle and had four dots in the middle of it, six dots outside the perimeter of the circle. The skin around it was red and tender, displaying copious amounts of pain being held there.

Grace gestured to her own marking on her thigh, "I have one too, see?"

Stephanie retreated a bit, observing Grace's mark before glancing back at her own, "They're gifts, you say?"

Grace smirked, "Oh yes."

Grace walked forward and positioned herself in front of the desk that belonged to their room. She focused on it and produced an orb of black energy within her hands, aiming at the piece of wooden furniture. Stephanie took a step back in shock and confusion before Grace released the orb. Pieces of wood went flying all about the room, crashing into the walls and landing everywhere.

"You see? It's a gift," Grace joyfully iterated.

Stephanie trembled under the blonde's gaze, "I-I can do that?"

Grace smiled at the girl, taking a few steps forward and taking the tanned girls marked hand, "And so much more. All you have to do, is trust it."

Grace rubbed Stephanie's mark with her thumb, causing the dark haired girl more pain than needed.

"Ah! Stop it!" Stephanie hissed.

"Hush!" Grace ordered.

Stephanie shut herself up as she watched Grace continue to rub her hand. The pain in her hand started to decline as a new sensation filled her, something along the lines of a dark, ominous feeling.

"What are you-"

Grace clamped her free hand over Stephanie's mouth, "This is for your own good. You'll thank me, soon enough."

* * *

Setsuka sat in her office, wincing at the blue marking on the inside of her wrist.

"Now of all times…"

A knock was heard at the door, followed by Ryuusei entering the room.

"I'm supposed to ask who's there and grant permission to enter first," she informed sarcastically.

Ryuusei shrugged as he took a seat in front of her desk.

"I see you've received your mark," he gestured to said mark.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Setsuka bit.

Ryuusei took a closer look at the mark, "I'd say that's pretty fresh too."

Setsuka glared at Ryuusei, "Now what on earth would give you that idea?"

"At least you're holding up better than the Wind Sage."

"Can I help you with something? Or are you hell-bent on spectating my agony?"

Ryuusei leaned back in his chair, revealing a manila folder, "While you're enjoying your little hissy-fit over there, I'll explain why I'm here. This," He opened the folder and placed it on her desk, "is wrong."

Setsuka leaned over the folder as she held her wrist in pain, observing the file's contents.

"That's-"

"The Spirit Child, I know. Except it's not," He informed.

Setsuka looked at him with a frown on her face, perplexed, "Then who is it?"

Ryuusei produced another folder, containing another file that he showed his accomplice.

"Her."

"Her?"

"Her."

Setsuka hesitated, "Really?"

END

_**Sorry this was so late! Please forgive me! Review and try not to hate me!**_


	13. Chapter 12: Explosive Horizons

_**Hey guys, sorry I'm being so tardy with my updates. I'm in the midst of exams right now, not fun. At least I got a 94 on my English FSE. That's definitely reassuring. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!**_

Explosive Horizons

Hino ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Another explosion went off behind her to the right and she covered her head with her arms in reaction to it.

'_Just keep running… Keep running and you'll be okay…'_

***TWO HOURS EARLIER***

**Hino was sitting in the cafeteria with Xerxes, eyeing Jeff out the corner of her eye. Xerxes glaringly watched her friend pay all of her attention to the purple haired boy across the cafeteria as she slowly bit into her sandwich.**

"**If he's so damn interesting, why don't you just go over there and shove your tongue down his throat?"**

**Hino shifted her eyes quickly over to Xerxes, squinting them into a glare, "Why don't you try manners for once?"**

**Hino hated being mad at Xerxes, but she couldn't help it at the moment. She was mad at everyone, at everything. She had yelled at her pillow this morning in frustration.**

"**Calm down, I just want to be able to talk to the person I'm eating with instead of watching her lust after some guy across the room," Xerxes explained, taking another bite out of her sandwich.**

**Hino sighed as she straightened up in her seat and grabbed an apple she had gotten from the cafeteria kitchen. She took a bite out of it, not bothering to reply to Xerxes' comment.**

**As Hino took another bite, a loud thud sounded throughout the building. A couple students stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to where the sound had come from.**

"**What the-?"**

**A blast was shot through the wall to the cafeteria. Hino and Xerxes stood up, alarmed. They watched as a familiar blonde haired girl stepped through the giant hole that had been created in the wall.**

**Grace.**

**She stood in the middle of the rubble she had created and gave a triumphant smirk at her work. She looked up from the pile of debris and scanned the cafeteria full of awe-struck students. Her smirk grew as she created on orb of energy within her hands and randomly fired a group of teens. Chaos broke out as students ran about trying to get out of the room and away from Grace. The blonde teen walked further into the room casually, followed by Stephanie and Zebel, who looked just as ready and willing to blow up the premises.**

**Hino and Xerxes looked at each other, both unmoving. Hino struggled to make her way over to Xerxes, completely overcome with shock.**

"**What do we do?" Xerxes asked her pink-haired friend.**

**Hino hesitated before delivering her answer. "Fight."**

***PRESENT***

"What the fuck was I thinking!" Hino exclaimed as she ran out of the partially destroyed building.

She kept going, running into the city. She wound her way through buildings and alleys, never stopping to even take a breather. She choked on her own spit, and started to become exhausted, but she wouldn't let herself stop running.

"I can't stop," she told herself as she kept going, "Not now. Not when she's after me."

***ONE HOUR, FORTY-TWO MINUTES EARLIER***

**Hino dodged another one of Grace's orbs as she took cover behind a cafeteria table that had landed on its side after an explosion. Xerxes resided behind another table getting ready for another assault on the blonde leader of the trio.**

**Xerxes stood and created a projectile with her psychic powers, flinging it in Grace's direction. Grace dodged it narrowly and created another orb that destroyed the table Xerxes had been using for protection.**

**Xerxes ran over to Hino and hid with her.**

"**Well this was a bright idea. Congrats shit-for-brains, your noble suggestion has guaranteed the end of our pathetic lives at the hands of some psychopathic blondie, a fidgety loner and a Mexican super model!" Xerxes whispered intensely.**

**Hino shot her the finger before standing up and running to another table. Grace shot an orb in Hino's direction, which missed and shattered a window instead.**

"**You girls can't keep running forever! You'll eventually run out of tables to hide behind! Then what will you do?" Grace taunted as she blew up another table for fun.**

**A flying rock hit Grace in the stomach and knocked her over, making her curse as she squirmed in pain. Hino looked at Xerxes to see if it was her doing, but Xerxes was looking at Hino the same way. Both became confused until Jeff popped up next to Hino.**

"**Come on! We need to get out of here!" Jeff ordered as he took Hino's hand and ran for the nearest hallway.**

"**Xerxes!" Hino called as she was pulled along by Jeff.**

**Xerxes ran after them as Stephanie created an orb in her hands. Jeff and Hino rounded the corner into the hallway as they heard the orb shoot off and create an explosion. Hino kept looking back to see if Xerxes turned the corner into the hallway as Jeff kept tugging her along.**

"**Hino, come on!" He called desperately.**

**They turned another corner as more explosions were heard, Xerxes never entering the hallway after them. Hino gave one last glance before complying with Jeff and running down another hallway.**

***PRESENT***

Hino spotted the Hospital, contemplating whether or not to enter it. Explosions could be heard in various parts of the city.

'_They're looking for me,'_ she thought as she continued to run.

She turned down an alley way that lead towards the hospital, entering the white building through a side entrance that looked to be for emergencies.

Hino found herself in a corridor filled with gurneys and metal shelves with plastic bags on them. She jogged down the narrow aisle and came across a sign that read 'POST-EMERGENCY'. The hallway past the sign was lined with doors to patient rooms.

"Post-Emergency… Oh my God!"

Hino jogged down the hallway, looking in each window, searching for two specific people she knew would be there.

***ONE HOUR, TWENTY FOUR MINUTES EARLIER***

"**Where are we going?" Hino asked as they kept turning down hallways.**

"**Out of this building," Jeff replied as he kept leading her through the school.**

"**What about Xerxes? We just left her in the cafeteria, what if she's hurt-"**

"**I'm not worried about her, okay? She can take care of herself!" Jeff cut her off, becoming agitated with her questioning.**

"**But what if-"**

"**No, Hino!" Jeff exclaimed, stopping them both in their tracks. "No… Xerxes is tough. She's strong. She can handle herself, alright? I'm just worried about you right now, okay?"**

**Jeff looked into Hino's eyes, seeing fear and shock in them. He took her form and cradled it in his arms, attempting to give her a moment to breath.**

**Kheika and Cleotra turned into the same hallway Jeff and Hino were in, running as fast as they could.**

"**RUN!" Kheika called as a wave of dark purple energy blasted a portion of the wall in that hallway.**

**Hino and Jeff pulled away in time to see the most decked out disco girl they had ever seen immerse into the area and prepare another wave of energy. They ran after Kheika and Cleotra, managing to turn the corner just in time to dodge the wave.**

**Sigi briskly strode down the hallway preparing another wave, "You can't run forever Kurayami! Kaji!"**

**The four continued to run, turning down a couple more hallways until the blasts of waves grew quieter. They stopped for a minute to compose themselves and breath.**

"**What in the world is going on?" Kheika asked the other three.**

**Jeff pulled his shirt up to reveal a brown marking on his stomach in the shape of a triangle with a filled in octagon in the middle of it, "This."**

**Cleotra looked to her wrist where her own mark resided. She looked up to Jeff, showing him her wrist as she did so.**

"**These? What do they mean?" The darkly dressed teen asked.**

**Jeff released his shirt, slightly to the displeasure of two of the girls there. His hand hovered over his stomach as he answered, "I don't know exactly, but I'm sure they have something to do with this."**

**Hino tapped her shoulder lightly as she recalled what Sigi had yelled after them, "What do you think Sigi meant when she called 'Kurayami' and 'Kaji'?"**

**The three looked to her as they too recalled was the disco girl had said. All of them pondered the names and their possible meanings before recollecting themselves and hurrying off toward an exit.**

**Hino took Jeff's hand, making them stay a bit behind the other two, and squeezed him.**

**He squeezed back reassuringly, "We're going to be fine, I promise."**

**Hino contemplated her response, "If we're not, then you owe me a date."**

**Jeff smirked, "Deal."**

**Kheika overheard the conversion, and an ache rose in her chest.**

***PRESENT***

Hino had searched at least 50 rooms before she found Takeshi and Alexianna's room.

She entered the room to find the two teens on the same bed, cuddling. She took a moment to admire and envy them before speaking, "We've got a situation on our hands."

Both black haired teens blinked at Hino for a minute before deciding to respond.

"What?" Alexianna finally asked.

Hino sighed as she closed the door behind her.

"The school has been attacked by a group of students. They've been blowing up whole sections of the school, hurting other students… They're basically insane," Hino explained.

The couple stared at Hino in disbelief for a while before a sudden stroke of understanding came over them.

Takeshi rolled up the sleeve of his hospital gown, revealing his mark, "Unido?"

Hino nodded as she took her leather jacket off and pointed to her own mark, "Ikazuchi?"

Takeshi was hit with a sudden familiarity, and nodded at the pink-haired girl.

"We need to find the others and stop those lunatics."

/

Setsuka groaned as she clutched her arm, "Of all the-"

Another blast was shot at her as she rolled behind a large pile of rubble for shelter. The icy woman peered around the edge of the temperate barricade to scan for the source of the attack. She was pulled up by the collar of her blazer by Vanitas, who smirked in her face.

"Well, look what we have here! Toru! You're supposed to be one of the stronger ones too," he shook his head in disapproval, "How is it that Kurayami and Unido slipped away from us so easily, but you and Akeno fall in the first battle?"

Setsuka's eyes widened briefly at the mention of the Sage of Light, "Akeno?"

Vanitas' smirk grew larger as he prepared another beam of energy in his free hand.

Setsuka kneed him in the groin, making him release her and fall to the ground in pain. Setsuka landed in a lounge and rolled to her feet, creating a beam of water from her hands, then freezing it over once it hit Vanitas.

"I'm sorry, I thought you said _I_ was the one who was falling during the first battle?"

A small squeal came from the newly made ice sculpture as she turned and walked away, searching for him accomplice.

"Ryuusei?" Setsuka called as she paused in the middle of the gymnasium.

Ryuusei backed up into the gym, followed by a blast of energy and an angered Grace.

"Yes sweetie-pie?" Ryuusei sarcastically called back as he dodged a bunch of orbs shot at him by the angry teen.

Setsuka stood in the middle of the destroyed dome with a hand on her hip, "We should probably find the others and put a plan together."

Ryuusei dodged another wave of attacks from Grace swiftly as he slowly made his way around a pile of destroyed wall and over to Setsuka, "Just a second babe, I'm a little pre-occupied at the moment. I'll get right on that, though."

Setsuka raised an eyebrow at the man who kept dodging Grace's advances, "Really? You sure you can manage it?"

"Anything for you, dear," Ryuusei called back as he managed to get over to her, grab her arm, and book it out of the gym before Grace could follow them.

The angry blonde grunted and screamed as she stomped her foot and watched them leave. She turned her attention to Vanitas who was frozen on the floor and rolled her eyes.

"You're got to be kidding…"

She blasted the iced over boy, freeing him, and helped him up.

"Thanks…"

Grace huffed, "Next time I won't do anything. Get your head on straight."

Stephanie, Zebel and Sigi entered the gym, all baring glowing marks on their arms and a malicious look in their eyes. Grace turned to them with a devilish smirk on her face that did not belong to her, nor did anyone else possess the evil looks in their eyes.

"Hoshi."

Zebel nodded.

"Yuuwa."

Sigi gave a stiff nod.

"Kaemon."

Stephanie smiled and winked.

"Kaori."

Vanitas smirked.

Grace stood triumphantly before all of them. They all bowed their heads to her and brought their mark baring arms up, as if offering Grace their marks.

"Chiyo," all four of them said out of respect, maintaining their bowed heads.

Grace brought her leg up on top of a large boulder, showing off her mark on her thigh as she gave a possessed, maniacal laugh.

"I'm coming for you, Tamika! I'm coming!"

END

_**Whoa! Oh my goodness! The good guys are scattered, the bad guys are together, the school is ruined, and some people are hurt, or worse… EXPELLED! See what I did there? Review please!**_


	14. Chapter 13: Explosive Dawn, Ominous Dusk

_**Hey guys. I wanted to get this next update out as soon as possible, it's pretty much a part two to the last chapter, since I left it off kind of unfinished. Enjoy and review please!**_

Explosive Dawn, Ominous Dusk

***48 MINUTES EARLIER***

**Hino, Jeff, Kheika and Cleotra kept jogging down the hallway, nearing the lobby of the school. Hino clung onto Jeff's hand as they neared the exit, the need for safety filling her thoughts up.**

**The four rounded a corner to come face to face with Zebel blowing up an entire classroom with a large disc shaped projectile of energy. Zebel laughed as the room combusted before noticing the group of four staring at him.**

"**Hello there," Zebel monotonously greeted as he prepared another disc to launch at them.**

**Jeff created a shield by using his psychic powers to lift a large boulder and move it in front of the four students, which blocked Zebel's attack. The boulder exploded, and pieces of it hit Jeff and Hino, knocking them back, away from Kheika, Cleotra and each other.**

**Zebel turned on Jeff, approaching him with a plain, possessed look on his face that would send shivers down anyone's spine. Kheika shot a sphere of fire in Zebel's direction, which singed his hair as he dodged the attack just in time. Zebel straightened up and faced Kheika and Cleotra, preparing another energy disc. The two girls ran off back the way they came, turning the corner before Zebel's disc could hit them. Zebel turned back to Jeff, who had just gotten back on his feet.**

"**Ganseki… We meet again…" Zebel muttered in slight annoyance.**

**Jeff frowned, "Ganseki? Zebel it's me; Jeff."**

"**Enough. You cannot confuse me with your pointless tricks. I'm no longer the fool you once knew. I've returned, much stronger and much cleverer than you ever thought I could be. Prepare to fall prey to my new found power," Zebel retorted as he shot a small disc at Jeff. The disc caught Jeff's shoulder, slicing the fabric of his hoodie and part of his arm open.**

**Jeff hissed in pain before launching a rock at Zebel.**

"**Run Hino!" Jeff called as he continued to fight off Zebel.**

**Hino watched from the other side of the hall as she struggled to free her hand that was stuck under a piece of the exploded boulder. She kept tugging as she watched disc after disc and rock after rock flung almost carelessly around the hall.**

"**Hino!" Jeff called again, becoming worried with each passing second she was still in the battle zone.**

"**I'm stuck!" She shouted as she gave a large yank, freeing her palm but causing her fingers more pain.**

**Jeff's brow became sweaty as he kept dodging and firing attacks, glancing over at Hino whenever he could. He landed a blow to Zebel's knee, making him crouch over in pain. Jeff took the opportunity to go over to Hino and free the rest of her hand.**

"**Get out of here, now," he instructed her as he helped her up to her feet.**

**Hino looked confusedly into Jeff's eyes, "What about you?"**

**Jeff put his hands on her shoulders, "Don't worry about me, and just get out of here! Find Takeshi and Alexianna, stay with them until this blows over. I'll find you, I promise."**

**Hino took a few shaky breathes before she finally nodded. Jeff eased up slightly at Hino's compliance and took a deep breathe to calm himself further. He brought her into a tight hug, burying his face into her shoulder and neck area. She hugged back just as intensely before pulling away and taking off. Jeff watched her leave until she exited the hallway and turned into the lobby.**

"**Is it love, Ganseki?" Zebel taunted, firmly planting his feet on the ground.**

**Jeff turned on Zebel, preparing to resume their battle, "You wouldn't understand love if it was injected into your blood flow." Jeff gave a perplexed twitch, frowning at his own words.**

**Zebel hissed at him and chucked a disc his way, "You'll pay, Ganseki! You will pay!"**

***PRESENT***

Ryuusei tugged Setsuka along as they ran about the perimeter of the school. They both observed the damage done to the fresh building, frowning slightly at the massacre of the beautiful architecture.

"Mom…" Ryuusei mumbled under his breath as the two Sages made their way off the premises to safety.

"We should head to the hospital, they wouldn't dare attack a place so public and monitored," Setsuka suggested as the two slowed down to a walk.

Ryuusei nodded, dismissing the sympathy that had risen in his chest for his mother's proud establishment.

They made their way along the sidewalk of a busy street that lead to the hospital. Ryuusei removed his dirty, torn blazer and tossed it, "I got my mark last night." Ryuusei unbuttoned the top two buttons of his white dress shirt and pulled the light fabric back to reveal his green mark in the shape of a triangle with a vine-like symbol inside of it under his collar bone.

"Did it hurt?" Setsuka questioned.

Ryuusei released the fabric, "Extremely. I didn't get any sleep."

Setsuka nodded, "That'll teach you to tease me."

Ryuusei gave a light smirk, appreciating her small attempt at lightening the mood, "Do you think we'll be able to gather together? The Sages?"

Setsuka sighed, "We have to. However, they've taken down the Sage of Light – Akeno – already. He or she is most likely still in the school."

Ryuusei was taken aback by the new information, "How could they have taken down the Light Sage already? Aren't they supposed to be one of the strongest Sages?"

Setsuka nodded, "Exactly."

They both continued to walk in silence, dreading what was to come.

/

Xerxes groaned as she came to, pain knocking her thoughts around inside her head as she sat up. She remembered her fight with Grace and her group of minions, realizing she was still in the middle of the destroyed cafeteria.

"Jesus Christ…" She muttered, rubbing her head and scanning the area. Rubble was piled everywhere, sunlight spilled in through holes in the ceiling, and the wind blew through the emptied window frames to brush against Xerxes' skin and hair.

She slowly got to her feet, feeling wobbliness in her knees and ankles. She used the broken table next to her to steady herself before attempting to take a step.

"I'm gonna kill Hino," she muttered as she slowly made her way out of the building. Pain seeped into her limbs with each tiny movement she made, making her clench her teeth.

"Xerxes!"

Xerxes looked up to see Kheika and Cleotra running over to her. In her whole month at that school, she had never been so happy to see those two girls.

"Thank the fucking heavens…" Xerxes uttered as she let herself collapse.

Kheika and Cleotra rushed over to her as they watched her form fall to the floor. Each girl took an arm and hoisted the bluenette up, walking her out of the building.

"We need to get her to the hospital," Kheika stated.

Cleotra nodded as they brought Xerxes out of the building and started heading towards the hospital.

/

Jeff clumsily made his way through the halls of the hospital, searching the building for any of the other students from Arcadia Academy.

He kept stumbling along, "Where would Alexianna and Takeshi be…"

He rounded a corner, running into a woman as he did. He fell back into the wall, hissing at the new abundance of pain.

"Sorry ma'am," he groaned out as he attempted to stand up.

The woman helped him up, her slender, white fingers lacing around his wrist. He felt a flash in his head; similar to the one he felt when he made contact with Hino.

"That's alright," a cold, elegant voice responded as he was steadied by another set of hands.

"Steady there," a warm, masculine voice echoed as Jeff started seeing patches of black.

Jeff fell back against the wall again, falling unconscious.

Setsuka rolled her eyes, "Perfect. He's out."

Ryuusei put one of Jeff's arms around his neck and walked him along as he and Setsuka headed towards the Post-Emergency wing.

"So that's six out of nine Sages," Ryuusei stated as he lugged Jeff's body towards Takeshi and Alexianna's room.

Setsuka nodded as she opened the door to the room, holding it open for Ryuusei. The Earth Sage put Jeff's form on the empty bed, sitting down on the edge of the mattress to regain his composure.

Hino's eyes widened when she saw Jeff. She went to his side, placing a hand on his cheek as she observed his unconscious state, "I knew I shouldn't have left him…"

A grave air swept through the room as Hino took a deep breath. Hino turned to the rest of the group, "What the hell is going on?"

Setsuka took a small step forward, bringing the room's attention to her, "A long time ago, there were nine Sages that looked over this city. They kept everything peaceful here. The most powerful of them was the Spirit Child, who fell into a trap and was split into six pieces. She herself became one piece, but the other five became new people, evil people. They destroyed the city and killed many people. The Sages stopped them by sacrificing themselves."

"We think that Grace and the other four with her are the five evil soul pieces. We," Ryuusei continued for Setsuka and gestured around the room, "Are six of the nine Sages."

They all looked around at each other, not wanting to believe the nonsensical story, but realizing that it was true. All of their marks started to glow, and a force rose within the room that pulled Alexianna to her feet. The French girl unwittingly drew her arm forward, and the light from all of the marks started to draw to her arm. Three streaks of light came through the walls and landed on Alexianna's wrist along with the other five from the people already in the room. A violet mark in the shape of a circle layered overtop of a triangle formed itself out of the streaks of light on Alexianna's forearm.

"So it is her," Setsuka thought aloud as the streaks of light disappeared.

Alexianna looked to Setsuka, fear evident in her eyes, "What's me?"

Setsuka hesitated before she replied, "You're the Spirit Child."

Alexianna's eyes widened as she looked back at her mark. She traced the odd marking with her other hand, fascinated and afraid of it at the same time.

"What does that mean?" Hino asked.

Ryuusei spoke up, "It means she's the most powerful of us, and the most fragile."

"We need to keep her safe," Setsuka ordered as she went to open the door to the hallway.

"I think we're all safe enough here," Takeshi opinionated, halting Setsuka.

Ryuusei shook his head, "They'll expect us to stay here. We need to find a safe place to stay while we figure out a plan to get rid of those kids."

"What about the others?" Alexianna asked.

Hino remembered the scene in the cafeteria then, recalling what happened when Jeff came.

"Xerxes…"

Setsuka shifted her focus to Hino, "What happened to her?"

Hino was shaken out of her memories by the Water Sage and met her gaze, "She and I made somewhat of a stand against Grace when she first started attacking the school in the cafeteria. After a while, Jeff came and pulled me out of there. Xerxes started following us, but…" She trailed off.

Jeff, now awake, sat up, "She never made it out." He finished for Hino, who smothered him in an embrace.

"Akeno."

"Sorry?" Alexianna directed to Setsuka.

"That's the name of the Light Sage," Ryuusei answered.

Setsuka looked to Hino, "One of the Soul Pieces, Vanitas, said that Akeno fell in the first battle today."

Hino inhaled sharply, "Xerxes is Akeno?"

Setsuka nodded.

Hino lost all strength and feeling in her legs and fell into Jeff, who barely supported her. Her physical and now emotional exhaustion hit her and she broke down in front of everyone, not caring how uncomfortable or sad she made them feel. Jeff pulled her onto the bed with him and cradled her shaking form in his arms.

Setsuka and Alexianna kept their eyes on the sobbing girl as Takeshi and Ryuusei looked away from the sorry sight.

"Over here!" A feminine voice called outside the room.

The door to the room opened, revealing Kheika, Cleotra and an unconscious Xerxes. Hino leapt up and ran to take Xerxes' body from the two girls and brought her over to the bed her and Jeff had shared a moment ago.

Cleotra gave a small, polite smile everyone as she closed the door, and Kheika tackled Alexianna, who reciprocated the action.

"Thank God you're okay!" Alexianna and Kheika cried at the same time, clinging to each other like the other might die if they let go.

Hino laid Xerxes across the bed, and stood by her side, stroking her hair as she did.

"It seems we've all been gathered then," Ryuusei stated to Setsuka.

The ice woman smirked, "I told you we had to gather. There was simply no other option."

They both looked approvingly upon the others, a small victory for the day being won in that room. The dread of tomorrow, however, floated at the back of everyone's head.

The war had just begun.

END

_**Double update! Don't you love me now? I hope this makes up for lost time during the holidays and stuff, I might even update again tomorrow! We'll see. Anyways, please review!**_


	15. Chapter 14: Casualty Birth

_**Next update here! I'm trying to make up for lost time here, so that's why this update is so quick I guess. I've also had this surge of 'OH MY GOD HAVE TO KEEP WRITING FOR ARCADIA' so that's another reason I'm doing so many updates. Something I've noticed, however, is that people with prominent characters submitted aren't reviewing. This really bothers me. I'm asking for your opinions because I want to make the story better and more enjoyable for you guys, and I need your feedback to do that. It's for your benefit, and it's not that hard to type a few words at the bottom of the page saying if you liked it or not.**_

_**On to the chapter!**_

Casualty Birth

The group of nine Sages made their way out of the hospital, towards the west end of the city. Takeshi, Alexianna, Jeff and Xerxes were leaving against the doctor's recommendation, which worried some of the others, but they left anyways.

"I know the perfect spot for us," Jeff informed as he directed the group towards a small neighbourhood near the edge of the city.

"This place is so quiet and nice," Hino commented and she helped Jeff along.

Jeff gave a small smile as he limped along, "This is my home. It's where I grew up."

Kheika eyed them from behind, scowling.

"Isn't that your boyfriend?" Alexianna asked the fiery girl.

Kheika shot daggers with her eyes at Hino, "Not anymore…"

Alexianna gave a perplexed look, "Why not?"

Kheika turned her angered expression on Alexianna, "He dumped me. He said he couldn't lie to me and himself any longer."

Kheika picked up her pace, brushing past Alexianna and bumping Hino's shoulder as she went to the front of the group with Cleotra.

"What's wrong with Kheika?" Hino asked, sincerely confused.

Jeff frowned before replying, "Don't worry about it. She'll get over it."

Setsuka and Ryuusei, who were backing the group, walked side by side, observing the rest of the group. Takeshi and Alexianna were in front of them, seemingly arguing about something. In front of them was Hino and Jeff, the former supporting the latter as they slowly made their way through the neighbourhood. Cleotra was at the front helping Xerxes along, with Kheika who had recently run up to help.

"This is the worst possible mixture of people I've ever seen. We'll kill each other before Grace can even get her hands on us," Setsuka stated to Ryuusei.

The Earth Sage shook his head, "They're teens. Any mixture of 7 teens and us would be bad. We'll keep them in check."

Setsuka pursed her lips, "Somehow I doubt that."

They reached a small cul-de-sac where a couple houses, a café and a small bakery sat. Jeff pointed to the bakery, and the group entered the small shop.

The bakery was small and cozy. It held a few tables with mismatching chairs at each for customers to sit and enjoy their fresh pastries. The walls were a pale blue, faded in areas near the tables. The back wall was lined with loaves of bread and disappeared behind another wall, presumably where the kitchen was. The cashier was next to a plastic shelf lined with deserts and breakfast treats.

Hino took a deep breath through her nose, taking in the warm, crave-making scents.

A man behind the cashier smiled at Jeff. He was older, greying hairs popped up in his head of black hair, his glasses rested on the tip of his small, tanned nose, and his green eyes seemed to sag as they peered over the rims of his brass frames.

"Jeff! It's been a while!" The man called.

"Hey Uncle Sam," Jeff greeted as he lifted a piece of counter to go behind the cashier and give the elder man a hug.

"Are these your friends? Do they want anything to eat?" Jeff's uncle questioned.

Jeff smiled, "Not sure, but we do need a place to stay."

The old man raised his eyebrows and made a welcoming gesture, "Say no more! The apartment upstairs is completely empty, it's all yours!"

Jeff smiled and gave his uncle another hug before lifting the counter to let everyone through. They rounded the corner to where the kitchen of the bakery was and found a staircase that lead to an upper level of the building. Hino held Jeff back before going up.

"Thank you," she thanked.

Jeff gave a soft smile, "No problem."

Hino took his arm and put it over her shoulders, "You need to take it easy, let me help you up."

Jeff shook his head and pulled his arm back, "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Hino nudged him up a stair of the staircase, "At least let me spot you."

Jeff laughed as he ascended the staircase, "Fine."

The apartment was quite spatial compared to the bakery downstairs. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large main room the size of a classroom.

"No kitchen?" Kheika asked.

Jeff shook his head, "There's a bakery right downstairs though. My uncle will refuse any attempt at paying him for food as well, so we're set for food. No need for a kitchen."

"How come no one lives here?" Setsuka asked.

Jeff turned to her, "At first, I lived here. Then I went to boarding school and my uncle tried to rent the place out, but the 'no kitchen' is usually a deal breaker. Even if someone takes this place, they get too frustrated and give it up. So whenever I come home for weekends or holidays, this is where I stay."

Everyone took a seat on either one of the two couches, or one of the three living chairs in the main room.

"So where's everyone gonna sleep?" Kheika questioned.

Jeff shrugged, "There's a queen sized bed in one room, and two twins in the other. That's enough room for 6 people. Then there's the couches, one of them has a hide-away bed that fits two people."

Xerxes raised her hand, "Is it alright if I take the couch with the hide-away bed?"

Cleotra and Kheika hissed as Setsuka stiffened a bit. Hino and Jeff both noticed something in Xerxes' eyes that let them know she was very serious about her request.

"Xerxes gets the single couch. Everyone else, pair up with someone. No one takes my bed, the queen," Jeff ordered, to which no one argued.

Everyone started looking around at each other – except Xerxes – the gears in their heads spinning behind their eyes.

Jeff turned to Hino who was sitting next to him on one of the couches, "Want to be my bedtime buddy?"

Hino felt a warmth fill her cheeks as she nodded, "S-sure… If it means I get the nice bed."

Jeff chuckled at her response before slipping his hand into hers.

Takeshi and Alexianna was a given pair, and took one of the twin beds.

"Cleotra and I call the other twin bed, then," Kheika declared.

Setsuka and Ryuusei looked at each other, realizing the same thing at the same time.

"Great, the crappy bed with you. How exciting," Setsuka gave sarcastically.

Ryuusei rolled his eyes, "Are you really all that surprised we ended up together? Who else would you have picked to share a bed with anyways?"

Setsuka thought about his remark for a moment, "Good point."

/

Grace sat in a wooden arm chair in the middle of the stage in the school's auditorium. She looked around the large space, admiring the murals that spread across the vast walls of the room.

Stephanie approached her leader, now dressed in all white attire, and bowed her head before speaking, "Zebel and Sigi have left the premises."

Grace nodded, unfazed, "Good."

"Good?" Stephanie questioned, perplexed.

Grace nodded again, "It's their fate. We're meant to follow our instincts; they lead us down the path of power and enlightenment."

Stephanie nodded, "Of course."

Both girls remained in silence for a few minutes before Stephanie spoke up again.

"What do you think they're going to do?"

Grace blinked a few times, "Kill something."

/

Aki sat in the garage of Yusei's home, face in her hands, grey-black droplet stains on her skirt. She sat, unmoving, as Yusei worked on his D-Wheel. This was the usual ritual the two performed when one was upset and distraught.

"You have insurance, the building will be as good as new in a week or two," Yusei gave, trying to comfort Aki from under the vehicle.

Aki gave an aggravated sigh as she straightened up and let her hands fall from her face and onto her knees, "Fuck the repair work. I don't really give a damn about that."

Yusei froze and stiffened at the foul language. It wasn't an everyday occurrence to hear Aki drop an f-bomb. He rolled out from under the machine and made his way over to where Aki was sitting. She looked ten times as worse than when she had spent the entire night at the hospital for Takeshi and Alexianna. Yusei took her hand and looked her in the eye.

"Aki, everything is going to be okay. You brought them all together, the Sages will fix this."

Aki processed his reassuring words, "You really think so?"

Yusei nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. Aki attempted to smile at him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm exhausted…"

Yusei raised an eyebrow, "Really? Hadn't noticed."

Aki actually smiled at his sarcasm. She let her eyes droop shut, and fell into a light sleep right there. Yusei wrapped an arm around her protectively and let her sleep there for a bit.

'_You've earned at least a nap…'_

/

Kheika checked the digital clock that sat on a nightstand in the bedroom with two beds.

"Holy crap, it's 10:30 already?"

The tanned girl left the room and grabbed a sweater from Jeff's closet in his bedroom where he and Hino were already sleeping. She subconsciously glared at them, noticing Jeff's arm around the pinkette's waist.

She stormed into the main room where Ryuusei and Setsuka were sleeping, and Xerxes was reading a book.

Xerxes looked up as Kheika made her way to the staircase, "Where are you going?"

Kheika slipped the sweater on, "For a walk. I'll be back soon."

Xerxes shrugged as she watched Kheika descend to the bakery. An uneasiness settled into the thirteen year old girl's stomach, "Something's not right."

Kheika exited the shop and made her way down the bricked street, looking around at the surprisingly beautiful scenery.

"Such a pretty neighbourhood…"

She kept walking as she mulled over that day's events. The wind was light and cool, brushing her hair away from her face as she strolled further and further from the bakery.

"Nice night for a walk."

Kheika halted, looking around in confusion, "Who's there?"

The voice laughed softly, "An old friend."

From the shadow of a nearby tree, Zebel immersed, dressed in a completely white outfit that contrasted greatly with his hair. He stood completely still.

Kheika took a step back, "What do you want?"

Zebel laughed as he watched Kheika back up into Sigi, also completely in white. Sigi grabbed Kheika's hands and restricted her as Zebel walked toward the now-helpless girl. He grabbed a lock of her hair and twirled it around his gloved finger, "There was a time when I found you irresistible. Now? I can't wait to dispose of you."

Kheika spat in his face, "You're not Zebel, you're a monster."

Zebel leaned in so that his face was only a few inches from Kheika's and smirked, "I take that as a compliment, Kaji."

Kheika spit again, "Go back to the deadlands, Hoshi."

Zebel wiped the spit off his face and slapped Kheika with his saliva covered hand, "I'm going to enjoy this."

Zebel began to prepare an energy disc in his hand as he took a few steps back from the fiery girl. Kheika sneered and created a ball of fire around her hands, making Sigi let go of her. Zebel launched the disc, knocking Kheika over into Sigi.

Kheika created an orb of fire around her, which burned Sigi severely. Zebel threw another disc at Kheika, knocking her out. The orb of fire diminished, leaving Sigi with burns all over her body. Zebel knelt down to Kheika's side and grabbed her arm. He made an energy disc and pressed it to the spot where her mark was, and leeched energy through it.

Setsuka, Ryuusei and Xerxes arrived a few minutes later as Zebel finished draining Kheika's energy. He and Sigi took off as the three Sages came to a stop at Kheika's body.

Setsuka created an orb of ice and chucked it at Zebel and Sigi while Xerxes and Ryuusei went to Kheika's side. The orb hit Zebel's thigh, making him shout in pain as he kept running. Once out of sight, Setsuka knelt down with the other two who gave her a grim look.

Setsuka looked back and forth between Xerxes and Ryuusei. Xerxes looked to Kheika as Ryuusei bowed his head slightly. Xerxes looked back to Setsuka and shook her head.

Setsuka took a few moments to search her brain for other possibilities of what Xerxes meant by her body language, but none came other than the one that had first come to mind. The realization sunk in after a few moments of staring at the ice haired girl.

Kheika was dead.

END

_**That was a depressing way to end the chapter, I know. Kheika is deceased, it's awful. I'm sure many of you hate me now. Please save your vegetables to throw at me for later though.**_

_**I suggest you guys read some stories out there in this fandom that are really good; Yugioh V Busters by Ten Commandments, and Infernity Mirage/Boss Rush by lalunaticscribe. You can find these stories in my favourites. Characters of mine are featured in both for a reason; I don't trust just any authors with my characters. Please read them.**_

_**Review as always please!**_


	16. Chapter 15: Loss After Loss

_**Hey, next update here! Just a warning, cause I know I didn't give a formal one before, the will be multiple character deaths. Kheika is just the start. Just to warn you all now, so that you're not all like 'ERH MEH GURD DEHT CHUROOKTUR JURS DURD!' On to the chapter now!**_

Loss After Loss

Jeff stood in the main room with the other Sages, staring at the limp figure laid across the single couch, "What… Happened?"

Xerxes looked to him, unfazed, "She went out for a walk and got jumped."

They all looked at Xerxes stupidly. Setsuka shook her head and refocused her train of thoughts.

"There's no use dwelling on this, we need to take care of her and learn from this," Setsuka gave, taking charge of the situation.

Alexianna looked to her with a solemn scowl, "Are you kidding?"

Setsuka turned serious eyes on her, "No, I'm quite serious. It's unfortunate that Kheika has passed, but we can't sit here and mourn while Grace and her accomplices are out there, planning our deaths."

Alexianna stood from where she was defiantly, her face reddening, "How can you be so nonchalant about this? She's dead!"

Setsuka hardened her gaze and tone, "I know, and it's no thanks to any of us. We can't afford to be careless, because this," Setsuka gestured to Kheika's body, "Is what happens."

Jeff pulled his eyes from the dead girl on the couch and looked over to Setsuka and Alexianna, "Setsuka's right."

Everyone looked to Jeff, surprised he was even able to form words. He scanned the group, making sure he had all of their attention.

"From now on, no one will be alone. You will not leave here alone, you will not eat alone, you will not sleep alone. No one does anything by themselves," Jeff declared firmly, leaving no room for arguments.

Setsuka gave a satisfied look, and nodded in approval. Ryuusei gave a small nod, his stoic features unchanging as he leaned against the wall near Setsuka.

Cleotra, clinging to Kheika's limp hand, looked over the deceased girl's form, her eyes landing on Kheika's Sage mark.

"Guys," Cleotra called, signalling them all over, "Look at this."

Everyone gathered and leaned over to see Kheika's mark had changed. It was now a dark grey triangle with nothing inside of it.

"What does that mean?" Alexianna questioned the group.

"It means," Ryuusei began, "That they took her power. The fire symbol is gone, it's just an empty triangle."

Takeshi turned to the older male, "So, are you saying Zebel can now wield Kheika's powers?"

Ryuusei nodded.

"So he can produce fire?" Hino asked.

Ryuusei nodded again.

Everyone took a moment to let the information sink in.

"So our enemy is even stronger now. Marvelous," Setsuka uttered, annoyed.

The icy woman stormed off towards the staircase, halting at the top of it.

"Ryuusei," she beckoned.

Ryuusei sighed before following the Water Sage down the stairs and out of the building.

Jeff retreated to his bedroom, "Takeshi, could you please get rid of her?"

Takeshi frowned before lifting up Kheika's body and heading out of the building. He was followed by Cleotra and Alexianna, who remained silent the entire way out.

Hino turned to Xerxes, "This is insane."

"We just need to be cautious now, that's all," Xerxes replied, seemingly indifferent.

Hino shook her head at her friend's casualness, "How can you take this so lightly? Someone _died_."

Xerxes shrugged, "I'm no stranger to death. It doesn't bother me like it used to. Besides, I didn't really know her, wouldn't it be inappropriate if I showed more emotion than, say, Lex or Cleo over it?"

Hino frowned at her, "Still, you could at least take it a little more seriously."

Xerxes gave Hino a slightly perplexed look, "You don't think I am?"

Hino shook her head, "No, I don't. The way you're acting is really apathetic."

Xerxes repositioned herself in front of Hino and looked her directly in the eye, "I may seem calm, but trust me, I'm not. I'm not thinking of Kheika, I'm thinking of you. I'm thinking of Grace devising some sadistic form of torture to put you through as she slowly murders you. I'm thinking of any and every way you could die, and it's terrifying me. So yeah, I'm calm now, because I don't want to let my guard and have the next thing I see be your dead body."

Hino searched Xerxes' eyes, finding nothing but the naked truth beaming at her. She struggled to hold back tears as she practically tackled Xerxes into a hug, clinging tightly to the young, small frame. Xerxes gave a painful groan, hissing at the newly inflicted pain.

Hino pulled back, giving her friend an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

Xerxes shook her head, "It's fine, I'll be okay."

Hino furrowed her brow at the ice haired girl and rolled said girl's sleeve up to see if she caused any bruises. Hino's eyes widened as they fell upon large, old, serious flesh wounds running up the slender, pale arm.

"Xerxes? What the-"

Hino rolled the sleeve up further to find even more wounds. She rolled her other sleeve up, and both pant legs after that.

"These can't be from Grace, they're too old. What are you keeping from me?" Hino interrogated as she observed the many, many scars, cuts, gashes and bruises.

Xerxes averted eye contact with Hino, "My parents…"

Hino produced a look saying she needed no more, she understood. Hino rolled Xerxes' sleeves and pant legs back down and gave the young girl a light, yet meaningful hug.

"I'm sorry…"

Xerxes shook her head, "How can _you_ be sorry? You've been nothing but good to me."

Hino choked back tears as she continued to hold her dear friend, "I just am."

/

Setsuka crossed her arms as she walked about the cul-de-sac with Ryuusei, the chill of autumn presenting itself to her.

"I needed to get out of there," Setsuka explained.

Ryuusei nodded, "I think everyone wanted to leave that room."

Setsuka nodded in agreement as they continued to stroll around the circle of pavement. The scene was badly lit by a lone streetlamp and the natural lights in the sky. Ryuusei peered toward the ceiling of starlight in a wondering manner.

"Do you think she's just the first?" He questioned.

Setsuka slightly shook her head, "Unfortunately, yes. Some of those kids are positively idiotic. If Kheika fell that easily, then some of the others are guaranteed to get themselves killed."

Ryuusei slightly frowned, "Like who?"

Setsuka sighed, "Alexianna. Cleotra as well, most likely."

Ryuusei gave a surprised glance Setsuka's way, "Alexianna is the Spirit Child, you really think she's going to fall that easily?"

Setsuka shivered a bit before replying, "It's more likely than the others. Jeff knows what he's doing, which is the only reason why that Hino girl is going to survive. He practically worships her, there's no way she's going to have a shot at dying."

Ryuusei raised his eyebrows slightly, "You talk about it pretty casually."

Setsuka smirked, "Just giving my opinion."

Ryuusei gave a light chuckle, "What about me?"

Setsuka raised an eyebrow at him, "What about you?"

"Am I going to get myself killed?" He inquired, a hint of genuine curiosity in his voice.

Setsuka thought for a moment, "No. There's little to no chance of either of us dying."

Ryuusei nodded, "Both of us, eh? Somebody wants me sticking around," he gave sarcastically.

Setsuka rolled her eyes, "You know, you're quite the flirt."

He gave her a sceptic look, "I highly doubt that."

Setsuka shook her head as she gave the slightest smile, "You seem pretty forward to me."

"Yeah, to _you_," He replied, blurting the response.

Setsuka glanced at him weirdly, "What do you mean by that?"

Ryuusei shook his head, repressing any blush that threatened to surface, "Nothing, forget it."

Setsuka eyed him strangely but said nothing as they continued to walk about the dark street.

/

Grace sat lazily in her arm chair, gazing off into space. Zebel approached her, a smirk firmly planted on his face.

"You killed her," Grace randomly blurted as she kept staring into nothingness.

Zebel nodded, "Kaji, yes."

"Good," she replied in a glazed tone.

A loud thud sounded outside the spacious room, followed by Vanitas and Stephanie dragging in a wine-colour haired woman who struggled against her two captors.

Grace pulled out of her trance and darted her eyes towards the elder woman, a smile growing on her lips.

"I've been expecting you," the evil leader informed with satisfaction.

The woman managed to throw Stephanie off of her and into a row of seats. Vanitas grabbed her other arm with ease and scoffed at Stephanie as he easily restrained his hostage.

"Chiyo, right?" Aki asked.

Grace broadened her smile, "I'm glad you recognize me."

Grace stood and slowly meandered over to where Aki had been forced to her knees. The blonde knelt down and tip the redhead's chin up with her hand.

"Get your filthy, blood-stained hands off me," Aki growled.

Grace mixed a scowl with her smile and pushed Aki's head back sharply, causing the woman to hiss.

"You must be mistaken; you don't get to order me around anymore. I'm chancellor now, and the term resumes once I kill the rest of those idiotic Sages you managed to gather up," Grace taunted.

Aki's eyebrows shot up, "What do you mean by 'rest of them'?"

Grace let her smile turn into a smirk, "Oh, that's right! No one's told you yet about Kheika!"

Aki struggled against Vanitas with more intensity, the need to rip Grace's head off becoming prominent on her mental to-do list, "You demon!"

"Why thank you!" Grace gave gleefully as she put a hand to her chest, flattered.

"What should I do with her?" Vanitas questioned.

Grace put a pondering finger to her bottom lip, "Put her in her office for now, I'm going to need her later on."

Vanitas nodded and started dragging Aki to her office. Aki kicked and screamed as she was forced out of the auditorium to her new prison cell.

'_Come save me Yusei!'_

/

Jeff pulled his pyjama bottoms on in time for Hino to enter the bedroom they shared. She was dressed in some of his own clothes; a t-shirt and a pair of sweats. Hino blushed at his topless form, quickly dismissing any and all impure thoughts as they entered her mind.

"Ready for bed?" He asked her, perking up a bit at her presence.

Hino nodded and climbed in to the bed. Jeff followed suit and wrapped the sheets around both of them. He settled in facing Hino's backside and stared at her for a moment before wrapping an arm around her waist.

Hino turned over and gave Jeff a questioning look, "What'cha doing?"

Jeff propped himself up on his elbow, bringing his hand up to her face and gently moving a section of hair behind her ear, "Being paranoid."

Hino tilted her head at him, "By feeling me up?"

Jeff laughed softly at the response as he rested his hand on her cheek, "No, I was just wrapping my hand around you."

Hino raised a sceptic eyebrow at him, "Oh really?"

Jeff smiled slightly and brought his face down on hers, pressing their lips together firmly. Hino's eyes grew to the size of china as Jeff continued to kiss her. She placed her hand on top of the one that rested on her face, planning on moving it away but she ended up gripping it instead.

Jeff pulled away slightly and opened his eyes, gazing deep into her pair of orbs, "Just so you know for future reference; I always kiss a girl before I try to feel her up."

Hino didn't know what to do except nod in response and keep staring. Jeff closed his eyes and kissed her again, waking her from her frozen state of shock. She decided to kiss back after a few moments, surprising Jeff by deepening the kiss. He smiled into her lips, rolling on top of her as he did.

Hino smiled back into his lips as she continued the blissful experience, never wanting it to end.

/

"Takeshi?"

Said boy raised his head as he sleepily gazed to the source of his awakening.

"Yeah Lex?"

Alexianna rolled over in the bed to face him, keeping her voice low so that she couldn't wake Cleotra, "You don't think anyone else is going to die, do you?"

Takeshi rubbed an eye as he shook his head, "No, no one else is going to die."

Alexianna frowned worriedly, "You sure?"

Takeshi squinted at her, trying to keep his tired eyes open, "Positive." Takeshi leaned down and kissed Alexianna's lips briefly, "Now get some rest."

Alexianna gave him another kiss in return before nodding and rolling back over. Takeshi wrapped his arm around her and quickly fell into his slumber again.

"I hope you're right…"

END

_**A lot more romance than I planned for this chapter. Oh well, I guess I owe you guys so happy, fluffy moments since I just killed someone. Review please!**_


	17. Chapter 16: If We Be Free

_**Hello all! Another update! Not much to say here, except that I hope you enjoy!**_

If We Be Free

Darkness…

'_I know this place…'_

Aki looked around, smothered in familiar shadows.

'_I've been here before…'_

"Hello, Aki."

Aki spun to face the source of the voice speaking to her. The person was dimly lit by a faint spotlight. Aki observed the person, discovering familiar qualities as her eyes traced along the body.

'_Is that-?'_

The person lifted their head, letting their face become illuminated by the weak, yellow light, "Yes, it's me."

Aki took a step back into the shadows, "How are you-"

The person held up a hand, silencing her, "I don't have time to explain that. I'm here for a reason, something important – not a chat."

Aki frowned at the person, "What do you want?"

The person scowled, "It's not something I desire, it's the fate of this city, this country, maybe even the world. This is serious; I need you to treat it as such."

Aki returned the offensive glare as she took a defiant stance, "Go on."

"The other Sages are in danger. Not because they're incapable – that's no it at all – in face, they could easily kill off the Soul Pieces that have taken over your school. They don't know what they're doing. They're clueless. Without you, they'll get themselves killed, just like I did. If they die, the end of the world is guaranteed. You need to help them," The person explained, their calm demeanor and casual stance unchanging.

Aki hardened her stare, "So they did kill you."

Kheika nodded, "They did. Not before I burnt one of their faces off, though. Besides, I won't be here long."

Aki gave a perplexed look as she crossed her arms, "What do you-"

Kheika appeared at Aki's side, clasping a hand on her mouth. The spotlight followed the girl, never touching Aki, "I'm almost out of time here. You're about to wake up. You need to escape. When you wake, use the envelope cutter in your third drawer to cut your binds. Go to the nearest bathroom; no one will cross your path if you take the long way there. Go through the window, and head down the nearest side street – not a busy one. Ask for directions to 'Violet Bakery'. You must be quick, otherwise they might follow you. Good luck."

Aki jerked awake, panting and sweating. She looked around frantically, trying to remember what Kheika had told her to do.

"Escape… Right…"

/

Hino woke up wrapped in Jeff's arms. She looked over her shoulder to see Jeff still asleep. A few rays of golden sunlight shone in through the small window and landed on her brow, making her squint as she sat up in the bed. She slithered out from under the covers and Jeff's arm as quietly as she could, then drew the door open gently to enter the main room.

Hino found Xerxes already up and put together, which puzzled her.

"You're already up?"

Xerxes noticed Hino from above a book and nodded, "Apparently."

With a clear view of the bluenette, Hino could see the excessive paleness of skin and darkened wrinkles under multi-coloured eyes much better. A slightly worried frown placed itself in the midst of Hino's expression, "You look terrible… Did you get any sleep last night?"

Xerxes simply shook her head before putting her book down. "Check out the love birds," Xerxes casually instructed as she gestured to Setsuka and Ryuusei's still sleeping figures, their faces only an inch away from each other's.

Hino gave a soft laugh, "Is there some sort of love potion in the water at that school?"

Xerxes shrugged, "I must be immune."

Hino gave a stronger laugh, "I think the potion would know to stay away from you; you'd end up killing anyone who even tried to _touch_ you!"

Xerxes gave a small chuckle, "Lucky I managed to grab that sword on the way out of the school." Xerxes unsheathed said sword from the inside of her coat, presenting it to Hino with a slight triumphant smirk on her face.

Hino's mouth fell slightly agape as she observed the weapon being turned about in Xerxes' hands, "How did you- Never mind."

Xerxes gave another shrug and she put the sword back in her coat. The bluenette went to say something when a large crash was heard downstairs in the bakery.

Both girls ran down the stairs to see what had happened. When they reached the lower level they saw Aki standing there with a bloodied fist, standing in a pile of glass that presumably came from the broken door behind her and Jeff's uncle readying a gun with trembling hands and wide eyes.

"NO!" Hino went over to the baker and lowered the gun so it pointed at the ground, "This is our Chancellor, not a robber!"

Jeff's uncle relaxed a bit and took a few deep breathes, leaning the gun against the wall, "Oh, how silly of me."

Aki looked to Xerxes and Hino, "Kheika sent me here." The redhead turned to the shopkeeper, "I'll replace the door – my apologies."

Jeff's Uncle nodded and went to sit in the kitchen portion of the bakery, trying to calm himself.

"Kheika sent you? How? She's-…" Hino began before cutting herself off.

"Dead, I know. She came to me in a dream of some sort, and lead me to you," Aki explained, looking for something to help stop the bleeding from her hand.

Hino grabbed some paper towels from behind the counter and handed them to Aki. Xerxes grabbed Aki's good hand and lead her up the stairs to the apartment they were all staying in.

Jeff was now up and his eyes bulged when he saw Aki, "What the-?"

Xerxes held up a hand to silence the purple-haired boy.

Ryuusei and Setsuka had been startled awake by Jeff's outburst – both sets of eyes shooting open at the same time. Both realized how close they were to each other at the same time and literally jumped off the bed at the same time.

Everyone else in the room stood there and blinked.

"Moving on…" Xerxes broke the tension and turned to Aki, "What do we do about Grace?"

Aki took a seat and gestured to the others to sit as well, "Grace is a 'Soul Piece' – an evil entity that rivals the Sages. There are five of them, and their purpose is to destroy what the Sages value the most: the city and each other."

The five present Sages stiffened. Jeff raked his hair with his fingers, "So we have to stop them, right?"

Aki nodded somberly, "The only way to do that is to, well… You have to kill them."

Hino and Jeff grew visibly uncomfortable at the mention of murder. They looked at each other, that single glance giving each other a bit of regenerated comfort.

"Why would Grace do this?" Hino inquired.

Aki shook her head, "It's not Grace that wants to do it. It's Chiyo, the Soul Piece of Power."

Setsuka leaned back in her seat next to Ryuusei, "You mean she's possessed?"

"To a certain degree; yes," Aki replied.

"Where are they?" Ryuusei asked.

Aki looked to the source of the question, a sudden wave of relief washing over her as she realized then that her son was there and safe, "At the school. They've taken over it. They've… They've murdered a lot of people."

Ryuusei stood and silently walked over to the bedroom containing the still-sleeping Sages. He pounded on the door – waking them up brutally – then pulled out his cell-phone and dialed a number.

"Who are you calling?" Setsuka questioned him.

Ryuusei ignored her as he conversed with the person he called in the empty bedroom.

"Satoshi most likely, he's a good trainer," Aki explained.

Hino looked confusedly at her, "Trainer?"

Aki raised an eyebrow at the girl, "You don't expect to just walk in that school and take them on, do you? They captured me. They killed Kheika. They aren't just your classmates anymore."

Hino retracted into the couch next to Xerxes, somewhat using her friend as a shield. Xerxes rolled her eyes at the situation, "What if we don't need any training?"

Aki crossed her arms, "Then good for you. It couldn't hurt to get some training in, though. The more chances you have of defeating them, the better. Right?"

Xerxes just shrugged, the action almost becoming a signature mark for her.

Ryuusei re-entered the main room, "Satoshi is on his way."

Aki nodded, "Good, we'll need his help."

Takeshi and Alexianna immerged from the bedroom. Alexianna stepped forward, not noticing Aki there, "You guys…"

Everyone turned to her.

"Cleotra left."

/

Grace sat upside down on her make-shift throne, muttering something under her breath.

"She's there now."

Zebel nodded, a malicious smirk growing on his face, "At least we can still get her."

Grace halted her muttering, "That's not what I'm interested in at the moment." Grace spun herself so that she was sitting normally in her chair, "I want to know how she fucking escaped."

"It was Kheika. Apparently she spoke to her through the dream world."

Grace hissed as she turned her focus to Zebel, "I thought you killed her."

The mystery person held her hand up, "He did kill her."

Grace slammed her fist on the arm of the chair, creating a crack in it, "Then how was she able to talk to that idiotic redhead!"

"You know exactly why," the mystery person began, "Because the Sages don't die – they can't. Not in Spirit, anyway."

Grace gave a frustrated grunt as she massaged the sides of her forehead, "Fuck – that's right."

The mystery person stepped forward from the shadows and resumed her human state again, "You can't focus on that now. They've called Shinamori in to help them train. We must act quickly if you want to hold on to the advantage."

Grace buried her head in her hands, "This is quite the awful morning. First Aki escapes, then we create a truce with one of _them_, and now the rest of them are _training?_ Fuck…"

Cleotra crossed her arms, "I resent that! Here I am, trying to keep your head straight, and you're pulling this nonsense? You're far from defeat, you just need to go _now_."

Grace glared at the Sage of Darkness before rising from her throne for the first time since the initial attack on the school, "You do live up to your stingy name, don't you? Fine, let's go."

Cleotra smirked as she watched Grace and Zebel leave the auditorium. She stood back alone in the large room for a moment and gave a worried frown, "You guys better be ready for them…"

/

"Come on Xerxes! HIT ME!"

Xerxes leapt from her spot as another fire ball was shot at her. She created a laser beam and aimed at her mock opponent – Satoshi. The beam shot and seared his arm. Xerxes stood in her spot triumphantly, "There you go, you annoying little fucker."

Satoshi beamed at her, "Good. Very good! It seems like you've had a lot of experience in fighting with your powers."

Xerxes kept her expression plain as she nodded, "Thanks, I have."

Satoshi nodded, "You should go practice with Setsuka. You both are extremely experienced – you'll give each other a challenge."

Xerxes nodded before spotting Setsuka and gesturing to a spot away from everyone else with her head. Setsuka – who had been standing next to Ryuusei, arms crossed, observing the training – followed the bluenette.

"Sage of water, correct?" Xerxes inquired.

Setsuka gave a curt nod, "And ice, which is considered a part of water I suppose."

Xerxes nodded before shooting a laser at the icy girl unexpectedly. Setsuka dodged the attack easily even though she had been caught off guard. Setsuka created a ball of ice in her hand and shot it at Xerxes, who also dodged it easily.

Setsuka paused and stood, "It seems we don't need practice in dodging projectiles." Setsuka created a sword of solid ice that looked to be extremely dense and sharp. Xerxes smirked and took out her sword, stroking the edge of her blade with her finger which turned the edge of the blade into the matter of a laser. Both girls readied their swords.

Setsuka was about to say something when Xerxes leapt at her and swung. Setsuka blocked – caught off guard again – and faltered a bit. Xerxes took advantage of this and gave an extra shove against Setsuka's block, causing the dark-haired woman to stagger back. Xerxes went in for another attack, smashing her sword against Setsuka's. The ice-heroine grabbed Xerxes' wrist and threw her opponent's sword off of her own, causing Xerxes to fall back on her butt. Setsuka dove in, her sword pressing against Xerxes' which was right up against her chest. Xerxes kicked Setsuka off of her and attempted to stand back up. Setsuka slashed her sword over and over, Xerxes blocking each attack as she remained on her knees. Xerxes swiped at Setsuka's knees, making the ice princess jump over Xerxes' head and tap the side of Xerxes' neck with the tip of her blade.

"And that would be your death," Setsuka declared proudly.

Xerxes stood once Setsuka moved her sword, "So it would be. Good job."

Setsuka stuck her hand out for a shake, "I haven't had a fight like that in a long time. You certainly are a worthy opponent."

Xerxes took the offered gesture and gave a polite nod, "As are you."

The two began to ready themselves for another duel as Satoshi tried to train with Hino.

"All I can do is make things levitate… How am I supposed to do anything with that?"

Aki stepped forward, "Hino. Don't lie to us."

Hino looked back at Aki, shocked and slightly guilty, "I-"

"Don't have to do anything, right?" Jeff looked to the others as he went over to Hino protectively.

Aki crossed her arms disapprovingly, "Jeff, we need her to be able to at least defend herself if and when they come after her."

Jeff stood next to Hino defiantly, refusing to budge. Hino looked to him with fear and slight determination in her eyes, "She's right."

Jeff gave a curiously shocked look before he backed up a bit. Hino turned toward Satoshi and began to focus. A slight breeze blew by the group, blowing around the entire circle of the road. The breeze didn't disappear however, it kept blowing, growing stronger and stronger as dust swept up from the road and everyone had to shield themselves from the debris. Hino kept focusing, her eyes beginning to glow as the mini tornado was formed.

"OKAY HINO! YOU CAN STOP NOW!"

Hino closed her eyes, trying to break off her focus as the tornado died down quickly. Hino started panting as Jeff went over to her, making sure she was okay.

Everyone's focus was on Hino as she took deep, heavy breathes. No one had noticed Grace, Zebel, Vanitas and Stephanie encircling them with readied orbs, discs, beams and stars of energy.

"FIRE!"

Grace and her minions fired at the Sages. Each Sage and trainer had dodged the attacks, dispersing into smaller groups to take on the enemies attacking them.

Grace cornered Aki and Ryuusei, flinging orb after orb at them. Both fell into a routine of endless dodging as Grace relentlessly kept attacking.

Takeshi and Alexianna were cut off from the rest of the Sages by Stephanie who had a hungry look in her eyes, "Ikazuchi! It's been a while…"

Takeshi grabbed Alexianna's wrist with his good hand and flung her behind him. "Steph, it's me! I'm your friend!"

Stephanie gave him a perplexed look as she readied a star, "Steph? What's a Steph? Some kind of Sage term to get me to form a truce? HA! I'm not as stupid as Chiyo! I'd never form a truce!"

"Truce?" Takeshi questioned as Stephanie launched her star at him and Alexianna. Takeshi put his arm in front of him, knowing he had no chance of dodging the attack, and waited for the star to hit him. He kept waiting for the pain, but for some reason it never came.

He looked up to see a current of electricity absorbing the star and protecting him and Alexianna.

"Holy shit… I didn't know I could do that!"

Takeshi moved his good arm, and the bolt of electricity followed. He smirked and whipped his arm towards Stephanie, the bolt hitting her and causing her pain. She staggered back, absorbing the impact of the attack painfully.

Takeshi felt a throbbing in his knee and looked down to see Alexianna focusing a purple beam on it.

"Lex, what are you doing?" He asked her, perplexed.

"Healing you. Take your sling off," she ordered, the bandages around his knee disappearing. Alexianna took his arm and focused another purple beam on it, the bandages around it disappearing as well.

"What the-" Takeshi murmured as he moved his arm and leg around, having complete mobility again, "Why didn't you do this before?!"

"Cause I didn't want to freak you out! Now go kick some ass!" Alexianna ordered before she gave him a quick kiss and ran off towards the other Sages to see who needed healing or help.

Takeshi grinned, "You got it!"

On the other side of the circular street, Vanitas was being owned by Satoshi and Setsuka.

"Fuck!" The Soul Piece grunted as Satoshi landed a fiery blow on his leg. He shot a beam back at Satoshi, which surprisingly landed and temporarily paralyzed him.

Setsuka groaned, "I beat you once, I can do it again. Although this time; I won't be so kind!"

Setsuka started to freeze Vanitas over when she got hit in the side by an orb of dark energy. Setsuka fell on her hip and shouted out in pain, "Fucking hell…"

A figure hovered over the icy woman, although it wasn't the person she expected it to be, "Cleotra?"

The figure simply nodded as she smirked and readied another orb. Before she could fire, she was knocked back by an orb of fire.

"Bitch!" Satoshi called, breathing heavily as he recovered from his paralysis.

Setsuka got to her feet and finished freezing over Vanitas while she had the chance, "Satoshi, can you hold that bitch off?"

Satoshi nodded as he launched a beam of fire at the betraying Sage of Darkness, a heated anger present in his expression.

Setsuka finished freezing him over and turned to join Satoshi, but instead found him on the ground under Cleotra's singed boot and dark energy binds.

"What the hell are you doing?" Setsuka shouted at the girl.

Cleotra smirked, "Saving my ass! You're all so stupid! Grace and Zebel alone would destroy this city in half an hour! Once the Sages are out of the way, there's no stopping them! And they'll finish you within the hour! If you can't beat them; join them."

Setsuka gave the most disapproving, disgusted look she had ever produced and launched an orb of ice at Cleotra. The blonde dodged the attack and returned it with an orb of her own. The two kept launching and dodging as the battle raged on.

Zebel – the most powerful of Grace's minions – was easily dodging the attacks from Hino and Jeff, as he flung discs towards Xerxes to keep her busy.

"Is this the best you can do Ganseki?!" Zebel laughed with a voice that wasn't his own.

Jeff grunted as he launched a boulder at his enemy, watching as Zebel sliced the boulder in half with a disc and immerging unscathed. Growing frustrated, Jeff charged the Soul Piece of Energy, causing the evil boy to smirk as he readied another disc and plastered Jeff to the ground with it, using it as a large bind of energy.

"You're so funny Ganseki. Really, you are hilarious!" Zebel laughed, "I can be funny too! Watch – I'll slice your little girlfriend in half and make you watch every second of it! How funny is that?"

Jeff started to freak out, squirming against the disc that was holding him down, "Hino! RUN!"

Hino looked terrified as she became glued to her spot, not knowing what to do. Shock had overcome her as she watched Zebel smirk at her, a large disc of energy forming in his hand.

"Jeff?" She called as she remained frozen, "What do I do?"

"RUN! GODDAMIT RUN HINO!" The helpless boy kept struggling against his restraint, looking back at Hino to see if she was trying to escape or not. A couple tears leaked out of his eyes as he realized what was about to happen – and there was nothing he could do.

Zebel launched the disc at her, the smirk on his face purely evil – the kind of evil that made people vomit at the sight of it. Hino's eyes grew wider as the disc approached her frozen body, the realization of her death apparent in her eyes. The disc was about to hit her as she scrunched her eyes closed, "I'm sorry."

The sound of flesh bone slicing apart filled the ears of both boys as they watched two halves of one girl fall to the ground. Blood had spattered all across Hino's fearful face as she realized what had just happened. Hino looked from half to half, her eyes filling with salty tears.

"XERXES!"

The pink haired girl was filled with an insatiable rage. She was overcome with a hate for Zebel so strong it pained her – making her want to throw up. She focused on the boy, creating a tornado of dusty, blood-filled wind around him which sent him flying off to the other end of the street. Zebel fell a good 20 feet from the air and passed out the minute he hit the ground.

Hino stood and stared at Zebel's motionless body – wanting to rip it apart like he had ripped Xerxes apart. She wanting him to die painfully, agonizingly. She wanted to make him beg for mercy, beg for his death even. She wanted him to pay.

She fell to her knees, looking at both halves of the now-dead Xerxes. She fell into a state of numbness, and grabbed each half of her friend, trying to put her back together. Alexianna approached Hino, and knelt by her side, rubbing her back to try and comfort her.

"Here," Alexianna took the two halves of Xerxes' head and fused the ice-haired girl's face back together with her purple beam of healing magic.

Once her face was one again, Hino looked it over carefully and discovered that she had been smiling when she died.

"Xerxes never smiled… She never…"

Any restraint against tears broke at that moment, and her face flooded with the stinging liquid. Alexianna kept rubbing the girl's back, not knowing what else to do.

Everyone else had stopped what they were doing to witness the tragedy before them. Stephanie had gone to Zebel's side and sent a silent signal to Grace, showing that they needed to leave. Grace nodded and grabbed Vanitas' frozen figure before retreating back with Stephanie who had Zebel's unconscious form in her arms.

The Sages and trainers all gathered around Hino in a broad circle, except Cleotra and Satoshi. Setsuka and Ryuusei – the only two with their heads on straight – freed Jeff who immediately ran over to Hino and took over Alexianna's position.

Alexianna backed up next to Takeshi and hid behind him, looking away from the scene. Her eyes had begun to water when she noticed Cleotra standing next to Satoshi, frozen. Puzzled, the French girl walked over to Cleotra and took the girl's hand.

"Are you okay?"

Cleotra looked at Alexianna with shock and surprise, "What?"

Setsuka noticed Alexianna talking to Cleotra, her anger rising up in her gut, "You too?"

Everyone looked to Setsuka, Cleotra and Alexianna.

"What do you mean?" Alexianna asked, perplexed.

"You're with the Soul Pieces too?" Setsuka bit angrily.

Alexianna looked utterly confused, "Of course not! Why would you-"

It dawned on Alexianna what was going on then and there. She turned to Cleotra, complete disbelief taking over her features.

"You-"

Alexianna backed up from the blonde, horrified.

"HOW? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? XERXES IS DEAD! SHE'S DEAD! HOW COULD YOU?"

Alexianna created a blast of purple energy and aimed it at Cleotra, who had managed to snap out of her shock in time to counter Alexianna's beam with her own black one.

"Lexi! Stop this!" Takeshi called, running towards the Spirit Child.

Alexianna ignored him and continued to fire her beam of energy, the full intent of killing her in her eyes. Cleotra intensified the amount of power she was putting into her beam, causing the meeting of the beams to explode.

Everything turned to a purple- white colour. No one could see for a long time as the glow slowly began to fade.

Setsuka was the first to regain her sight. When she did, she saw Alexianna and Cleotra both unconscious on the ground. She went over to Alexianna, checking to see if she would be okay. There was blood dripping from her nose, mouth and eyes, and she looked much paler than usual.

Setsuka shook her head very slightly, "No…"

Ryuusei had gained his sight back next and saw Setsuka crouched by Alexianna's head. He went over and saw the expression on the icy woman's face.

"She's not-" Ryuusei began, but was halted by Setsuka nodding her head. A pang in his chest hit as the answer sunk in.

Still retaining some sense, he went over to Cleotra's body to find her in the exact same state as Alexianna. He looked back to Setsuka and shook his head when she looked back to him.

The others began to regain their sight as well, Takeshi being one of the last. When he saw Alexianna, he sunk to his knees in defeat. He looked her over; the cold, dead look in her eyes triggering his tears. He held her head to his chest and cradled the rest of her body, refusing to let go of her.

Aki looked over the battle field; from Hino, Jeff and Xerxes, to Ryuusei and Cleotra, to Satoshi, to Takeshi and Alexianna. Her eyes finally met with Setsuka's blaming pair, making Aki realize what she had done.

This was all her fault.

END

_**There really isn't much to say to you guys after that. Please review.**_


	18. Chapter 17: Bloodied and Bruised

_**Hey guys! I got some really good feedback from you for last chapter, I know I kind of threw Satoshi in there at the last minute, and I apologize for that. There have also been some mentions as to where Kaido is. Don't worry guys! Aki wasn't the only one behind gathering the Sages! Hold your balls!**_

_**Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for my surprise hiatus I took. Life got extremely hectic and busy, but some good came out of it and I got some rewards for my work, so at least it wasn't in vain. I'm back now, so stay tuned!**_

_**Now, enjoy the chapter!**_

Bloodied and Bruised, Bloodlust is Roused

Aki looked around the table. She scanned each person at the table that resided in Yusei's home, out of guilt and worry. To her immediate left was Jeff. He was much more pale than usual, his eyes wide and empty. He was holding Hino, although he didn't seem to know it. Hino was the next down the line; still mourning Xerxes. It seemed like that was all Hino knew at the moment – Xerxes was dead.

Next to her was Takeshi. The look on his face reminded Aki of when she had first seen him in that emergency room; shock, fear and lonesome. Every once in a while, Takeshi would look over at Jeff and Hino, something similar to envy would birth from his eyes and he'd pull away.

At the other end of the table was Shinamori; wounded and winded. He didn't seem to be planning on saying anything for the rest of the day – or the rest of the week for that matter. Around the next corner of the table was a very serious Setsuka who watched the emotionally wrecked Sages across from her. It wasn't exactly pity that resided in her eyes – empathy more so – Aki couldn't be sure. All that she could see clearly was a maternal temper in the icy woman's features. _'Strange…'_

Ryuusei was the last. He was affected by the events of that day – sure – but it didn't seem to really hit him at all. That or he was simply that stoic in stature. Aki rested a hand over her son's, giving him a reassuring expression.

"Fuck no."

Everyone looked up to see Hino staring at Aki's hand, eyes blood-shot with what was presumably pent up anger.

"Excuse me?" Aki asked, shocked.

Hino straightened up and met Aki's eyes with her own reddened pair, "You don't get to play the worry wart with a level head. You don't get to comfort your son. You still _have_ your son – your loved one. Don't sit there and try to pretend this affects you like it does us. _It doesn't and it never will. Fuck you._"

Even Takeshi had come out of his glazed state after hearing Hino's uncharacteristic words. Nothing happened for a solid 20 minutes as everyone just stared at the outspoken girl, shock engraving their faces.

Aki eventually stood and left. _'Obviously I'm not welcome…'_

The door behind her swung shut, a loud bang sounding from it. As she continued to walk away, she heard the door bang again, and turned to see why. Shinamori was behind her. The man stopped once his eyes met with hers.

"We need to figure this out."

Aki placed a hand on her hip out of habit, "Really? You think so?"

Shinamori rolled his eyes, "Look, obviously we didn't plan this out properly before. We need a new game plan and what better time to start working it out than the present?"

Aki huffed, "People died today. Not just one person; people."

"I know. They'll expect us to take a few days to mourn. We can't waste this time we have. If we act now, we'll be able to strike when they're weak," Shinamori offered, a few hand gestures thrown in for good measure.

Aki's jaw hung, "Waste? You think mourning is a waste of time?"

Shinamori sighed, "Obviously not - in general. Right now it _is_ a waste. Look, I can call Kaido-"

"Kaido. Yes, of course, _Kaido_! I'm so stupid! Get him over here!"

Shinamori whipped out his cell phone and called the historian/know-it-all. Shinamori explained the situation over the phone and within minutes the teacher was there.

"The Spirit Shrine," Kaido announced as he handed Aki a book. The book was open to a page with a historic-looking drawing of a large, thin monument with a large boulder in front of it. On the boulder was an engraved circle with eight sections marked off inside of it plus a smaller circle in the middle. The middle circle held the symbol of the Spirit Child, and each marked off section held the symbols of every other Sage in the group.

"This is where the Sages lived – the original Sages," Aki said as she looked over the drawing.

Kaido nodded, "It's near the edge of the city. People think it was some kind of cultist temple where people were sacrificed to the devil. It's been abandoned. If we go there, the Sages will be at an advantage should the Soul Pieces attack again."

Aki frowned, "So what? We just sit there and wait for them to attack us?"

Kaido nodded, "Shinamori can continue training them there. The Shrine would provide the appropriate atmosphere to re-focus them for the time being."

Aki scanned the page, noticing certain symbols that she had memorized from prior research, but there was something else there that she didn't recognize. It looked like a portal of some sort, and caused her to knit her brow together, "Is this a portal?"

Kaido looked to the image and nodded, "Yes, but that's for another time. Let's just get through this first."

Aki nodded, "Shinamori, get them ready to go," she instructed as she closed the book, a determined look firing up in her eyes, "We've got work to do."

/

"This," Aki introduced as she pointed to an extremely dirty and eroded, gold building, "Is your new home."

"What?" Jeff hissed out.

Shinamori and Kaido stepped forward to join Aki. Kaido continued explaining, "This is the Spirit Shrine."

"I don't think now is the time for Buddhist Yoga professor," Hino gave half-heartedly.

"No smart-ass comments, please and thanks," Shinamori harped.

Kaido nodded in thanks to Shinamori and continued, "It's the home of the original Sages. We feel that this is the appropriate place for you all to stay and train."

Takeshi looked up from the spot on the ground he had been staring at, "Train? You want us to keep training?"

Aki gave a fierce look, "Yes, unless you want to end up like the others."

"Gladly," Hino gave breathily.

A silence ensued as everyone regarded the girl with varied expressions, each laced with pity. Setsuka stepped forward towards the Shrine and began walking up the steps. Everyone's eyes turned to her, she could feel the heat of their stares on her back as she slowed to a stop and turned to look at them all. Her eyes turned on Ryuusei, a look of expectancy present in the gaze. Ryuusei started to walk up the steps towards Setsuka and stopped behind her.

"Let's go," Ryuusei gave softly as he went to take Setsuka's hand, but thought better of it and pulled back.

"Alright then," Aki waved to the rest of them and began ascending the steps to the entrance of the new home.

The building held a large main room that consisted of a large dining table, a mated section for training, a small area lit by the sun meant for prayer, a natural water fountain, and 12 doors lined along the walls each with their own coloured symbol that matched the Sage's symbols.

"Where are you three going to sleep?" Ryuusei asked Aki, Shinamori and Kaido.

"The mated area should do," Aki answered.

"But-"

"We've seen worse," Aki cut off, "We'll be fine."

Ryuusei nodded and walked off towards the room with his respective symbol on it. The door had no knob, so he pushed on it to try and open it. The door didn't budge. Confused, Ryuusei looked around and caught Setsuka opening her door by showing her mark. Ryuusei rolled up his sleeve and did the same as his icy counterpart, and the door began sliding open.

He entered to find a small bed with a light looking, green blanket draped over it and a small matching pillow. There was also an armoire with no doors on it that held a few robes. They were silk and cotton, green and brown decorated with gold, detailed designs. Ryuusei stroked an emerald green robe with his two fingers, admiring the garbs of his predecessor. As he gave another stroke, a shock of energy went through his body, and he was suddenly enveloped in darkness.

"Well that's not good."

/

"FUCK!"

Grace was _not_ happy at the moment, and she didn't hesitate in showing her fury. A good portion of the auditorium of the school had been blown up in chunks, leaving grayed, smoking circles in randomized spots around the room. The dark leader looked at her sorry excuse for a crew; Sigi covered in burns, Zebel unconscious, Vanitas frozen over, and Stephanie gripping her side in pain while gasping for breath.

"You're all pathetic! We should have defeated them easily! Now they have time to regain strength and train. You disgust me!" The girl called with a booming force, not her own.

Stephanie cringed at the harsh words, looking at Zebel with pity.

"Is it love? Kaemon? Do you love that _precious_ Hoshi?" Grace taunted the only other conscious Soul piece at the moment.

"Fuck off Chiyo," Stephanie bit as she went to pick up Zebel.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Stephanie gave a malicious smirk, "Going someplace quiet and peaceful where I don't have to listen to you for once." Stephanie nudged Sigi's napping form, "Yuuwa, come on."

Sigi awoke and groggily followed Stephanie out of the auditorium. Grace watched as she was left standing there, looking like an idiot, left with the most disappointing, useless Soul Piece.

"UGH!"

/

Ryuusei found himself in some sort of shadow-like realm. He could barely see anything except a few dark purple waves here and there. As he attempted to walk around the area, a bright spotlight hit him, nearly blinding him.

"Hello?"

A female figure was lit up by another spotlight in front of him. Once his eyes focused, he recognized who it was, "Kheika?"

The female figure nodded. Ryuusei reached out a hand to touch her, but the light vanished and she disappeared. He stumbled a bit as another light with another girl appeared; a bright blonde dressed in black.

"Cleotra?"

Again, another nod. He raised his hand towards her, but she put her own hand up to halt him. The Sark Sage brought a finger to her lips, a sign of silence, then her light went out and she disappeared as well.

"What's going on?" Ryuusei hollered into the darkness.

Another light went up behind him. He turned to discover a blue haired 13 year old girl dressed in the most conservative, white gown that completely covered her neck, arms, hands, legs and feet. She looked like an angel in the yellow beam.

"Xerxes…"

The young girl remained unmoving and just stared back at the young man in response. He was about to reach out to her, but thought better of the action.

"Where are we? What's going on?"

Xerxes said nothing, she just smiled in response, causing her light to cast her in endless shadow once again.

Ryuusei raked his wine coloured fringe with his fingers and let out a frustrated sigh. As he did, a silver beam of light appeared directly in front of him, illuminating a dark haired girl dressed in a purple gown with sliver glittering all along her form. She looked to the young man and smiled.

"Ryuusei, you're so brave. I'm glad to have fought alongside you, and to fight with you for many more battles to come. It's an honor to call you my comrade. But now, I must ask you for a favor," the enchanting girl began, her eyes glittering in the silver beam.

Ryuusei slowly nodded, still looking at everything with a film of bewilderment over his eyes, "Anything you want, Alexianna."

The girl's smile grew, increasing her hex of ethereal beauty, "It's a simple thing to ask of someone, I suppose. All I ask is that no matter what happens, no matter what heartache comes your way, fight on. Never stop fighting."

Ryuusei gave a slightly perplexed look, but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

Alexianna nodded with a smile as the other three girls were re-illuminated, all three appearing as gorgeous goddesses, sending Ryuusei into a world of perplexity.

"We'll see each other soon, I promise," Xerxes assured.

"I'll be back," Kheika gave with a fierce determination.

"I will use my second chance wisely, rest assured," Cleotra vowed, a lacing of regret tinting her words.

"We'll all be with you once again," Alexianna finalized.

The spotlight on Ryuusei grew more and more intense until everything turned to white. Ryuusei felt as if he was falling backwards into a never-ending pit of nothingness. Just when he thought he was dead, he hit something – something soft – and opened his eyes to find a gold and dusty ceiling above him. He sat up in the small, green bed and looked around to find everything normal.

"What just-?"

Ryuusei shook his head and plopped back on the bed, "That was… weird."

END

_**Kind of awkward to leave it off there, but at least I got this out! Plus my 'o' key is being really weird, so I got to check that out. Please review! Don't kill me!**_


	19. Chapter 18: An Eye For A Trio

_**I'm updating again cause I've been gone and you guys deserve an abundance of updates to make up for it. So yeah. Here I am, writing the next chapter. For you guys! Enjoy!**_

An Eye for a Trio

Aki decided to scope out the Shrine and make sure nothing was wrong with it. As she scanned the room, she noticed a hallway next to the Dark Sage bedroom. Aki, being the curious cat that she is, quickly looked around before approaching the hallway and heading down the eroded corridor.

The only thing in the hallway was a lit doorway at the other end from where Aki stood. As Aki approached the shining door, a man came up behind her and clasped a hand on her mouth to keep her from screaming.

"You're a little snoop, aren't you?" The man had a husky voice that rasped against her eardrums. Aki turned and elbowed the man in the jaw, causing him to stumble back.

"Well, that hurt. That's quite the blow you got there," the commented. Now Aki could see him, she gave him a once over. He was fairly tall, 6 feet she guessed, and was dressed in an oak brown cloak. His features resembled his first impression – dark and troubled. He had black hair and almost black eyes that seemed to pierce through Aki's demeanor. He seemed rather melancholy as well, which puzzled Aki.

"Who are you?" Aki demanded, catching her breathe from the surprise attack.

"Nosy, are we? Just hold on a second," The man said putting his hand up, and using his other to hold his chin.

"I don't have a second, tell me who you are," Aki commanded with a determined, serious tone.

"You have the manners of a squirrel. Yeesh, you don't even know who I am and you're already prepared to pummel me into the ground!" The man held his jaw and groaned a bit, trying to stretch his mouth open but having it prove to be too painful.

"Look, I have reason to be a little skittish-"

"I know, you're school is in pieces, five of your students are possessed by evil soul pieces and 4 of your 'good-guy' students are dead, one of which is the niece of someone you look up to. It's an awful situation, especially since the five living Sages blame you for this."

Aki looked at the man with the most shocked expression she had ever produced.

"If it helps, it's not your fault. You could have never predicted this."

Aki staggered back a bit, absently putting a hand on her stomach, "How did-"

"It's my gift. I can read memories. My name is Simon, before you demand it from me again," the man jabbed as he clutched his jaw again.

Aki disregarded the jab and continued her interrogation, "Why are you here?"

The man laughed at her, "Don't you know who I am? As their gatherer, I'd expect you to at least recognize the Gate Keeper when you see him. "

Then it clicked, "Oh! God, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you!"

Aki helped Simon out of the hallway to the dining table where she sat him down next to a fairly confused Satoshi.

"Uhhhhhhhh, who's this? Red?" Satoshi questioned, gesturing to Simon and using his nickname for Aki.

Aki glared at the flame man, "Don't call me that."

Satoshi rolled his eyes and turned to Kaido was sitting across the table from him, immersed in his textbook on the Spirit Shrine, "Kaido, who is this?"

Kaido looked up from his incessant studying and regarded the new presence with a look of awe, "The Gate Keeper? You're still alive?"

Simon nodded with a slightly sullen expression, "Yep, still breathing. I can't die. Pity."

Satoshi furrowed his brow, "You _want_ to die?"

Simon nodded with certainty, "I've been alive for centuries. I've had enough of this world. However, no one has come along that is fit for this job, so I'm kept alive to do it. Thankfully they let me keep my youth."

Kaido was thoroughly intrigued at this point, "Really? How old is your body, then?"

Simon gave slight smirk, "Sixteen."

Aki gave a silent chuckle as Satoshi's jaw dropped.

"You've been sixteen for centuries? That sounds awesome," Satoshi gave enviously.

Simon shook his head, "Not when you're holed up in this Shrine, watching over a portal the entire time."

Kaido leaned in, he looked like a child in a candy store, excited and eager to accumulate more knowledge, "The portal? Where is it? Can we see it?"

Satoshi started waving his arms around, demanding attention, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is with this portal and what does the Gate Keeper do? I'm confused right now, and explanation would be nice."

Simon nodded, "I am the Gate Keeper, which is pretty much how it sounds. I watch over the portal to the realm of the illuminated and make sure anyone undeserving never crosses into it. Not only do I body block the bad people from getting in, I decide who it is that must stay out. Apparently I have a good eye for it. Being able to read memories helps in that aspect though, so I suppose that is what made me such a good candidate for the job."

If it were possible, Kaido leaned in even further, "You can read memories?"

Simon chuckled, "It is my reward for being such a good, dutiful Gate Keeper."

Satoshi became visibly uncomfortable at the amount of interest Kaido seemed to have in the Gate Keeper, and he shifted around a bit in his seat, "We should get the Sages out here and get them started on some training."

Aki nodded in agreement, "Right away."

The two redheads went off to gather up the Sages as Kaido kept questioning the all-too-intriguing Gate Keeper, his eyes sparkling with a boyish wonder as he lived out a dream of his.

/

Stephanie stopped at a park bench near the outskirts of Neo Domino and put Zebel's still unconscious form on it as she took a breather. Sigi plopped herself next to the boy's slumbering figure.

"Are you sure they're this way Kaemon? It seems odd for them to stay in such a remote place," Sigi asked, unsure of the emotional girl's reasoning.

Stephanie nodded half confidently, half tuckered out, "Of course I'm sure. Do you think I like tiring myself out like this?"

Zebel's form started stirring awake on the bench at the sound of the girl's voices. The powerful possession sat up and rubbed an eye, "Where are we?"

Stephanie smirked, "On our way to killing the rest of those pests off."

Zebel smiled groggily before realising the shortage of Soul Pieces, "Where's Chiyo and Kaori? Shouldn't they be coming with us?"

Stephanie's smirk grew even bigger, twisting into a grin, "Chiyo was being an annoying bitch, so we left her and the witless wonder behind."

Zebel's face fell, "Why on earth do you think that's a good idea? Chiyo is a good fighter, we need her."

Sigi chuckled, "Is someone scared of a little frisk with only half of the Sages left?"

Stephanie began laughing with Sigi at the Soul Piece of energy, mocking his apparent fear. Zebel, growing frustrated, stood and slung Stephanie over his shoulder. Both girls were taken aback as he started continuing towards the now visible Spirit Shrine. Both girls froze as they watched him walk. He turned back towards Sigi, "You coming or what?"

Sigi stood in a haste and caught up with him, remaining silent as they continued on towards their assault.

/

Satoshi scratched the back of his head nervously as Jeff stepped up to begin his training session.

"Alright, now make sure you hit me, if you don't that gives me an opportunity to get a decent attack in on you, and if I'm Zebel, that is not a good thing. Got it?"

Jeff nodded, determined and focused. Satoshi positioned himself and prepared to accept the Rock Sage's attacks. Jeff eyed a hunk of rubble near the entrance of the Shrine and using his powers, hurled it at Satoshi, who just narrowly dodged it.

"Not good enough Jeff," Satoshi called.

Jeff huffed and spotted another large piece of rubble, hurled it, and again missed Satoshi.

"God damn!" Jeff shouted as he repeated the same routine over again.

"You can do better than this Jeff!" Satoshi called, noticing a bleeding slice on his arm as he kept dodging.

Jeff launched rock after rock, growing more and more frustrated until he finally picked an especially large rock, shooting it with all his might at Satoshi, who dodged at the very last second. However, the rock shot straight through to the entrance of the Shrine and hit someone else – Zebel.

A shout of pain was heard from outside the building, and everyone tensed up. The three Soul Pieces emerged from the entrance and walked in confidently, save for Zebel who was clutching an injured arm.

Hino stepped forward, tears threatening her eyes as she stared down the three murdering entities in front of her, "Seriously? SERIOUSLY!? You're back for more? Haven't you had enough? Has your blood lust not been quenched yet? Have you not taken enough life and love from us? Have we not sacrificed enough to you demons!? GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Hino began screaming as she summoned the largest whirl of wind she had ever produced. Her eyes ignited with a silver light, and everyone started covering their eyes to shield themselves from the debris. Hino slowly brought her hands up and focused all the wind into one stream and aimed it at Zebel. The Soul Piece dodged the attack, a gush of wind spilling out from the building, and a battle ensuing.

No one dare go near Hino, she remained in the centre of the room, unable to stop the hurling winds she had produced. The combat ensued around her, chaos breaking out.

Aki and Satoshi shuffled Kaido and Simon off into the semi-hidden hallway, seeing them unfit for fighting at the moment, and kept guard to make sure they weren't harmed.

Takeshi found himself facing Stephanie again, "This time I'm not going easy."

Stephanie scoffed and flicked her hair back, "I highly doubt this will be much of a challenge."

The two shot bolts and stars at each other, seemingly endlessly as they attacked and dodged as if in a dance.

Jeff and Zebel gripped each other, struggling to get a blow in. They seemed to be an even match, causing frustration in both as they fought against each other and the winds.

Ryuusei and Setsuka found themselves back to back as they faced Sigi, who had multiplied herself into three separate forms.

"We can do this, we're the bad-asses of the group… Right?" Ryuusei called over his shoulder.

Setsuka smirked at his comment, "I suppose."

Ryuusei smiled as they continued to attack the three clones of Sigi.

The wind kept blowing around the room, funneling out the entrance. Hino couldn't scream anymore, her body slowly beginning to slump. The debris in the wind managed to conk out one of the three Sigis, allowing Ryuusei and Setsuka to begin their one-on-one combat.

Setsuka created shards of ice and shot them at her Sigi, piercing random parts of her body and eventually sticking her heart, causing that Sigi to fall to her death.

Ryuusei created vines to grapple his Sigi and suffocate her to the point of passing out, or at least what he thought was passed out. He turned to Setsuka with a broad smile on his face and a thumbs up, "Well that was easy. What'd I tell you?"

As his smile gleamed at Setsuka, a vine made of light pierced through Ryuusei's chest, and an expression of happiness turned to one of realization as he fell forward into Setsuka's arms. The look on Setsuka's face turned to one of horror as she felt him go limp in her hold. The utterly shocked ice woman looked up from the dead man in her arms to his murderer who wore the most disgusting smile on her face.

Setsuka used all of her anger to create a large ice shard in the air and shoot it straight into the final Sigi's heart, instantly killing her. Setsuka felt a wave of satisfaction for a brief moment before returning her attention to the empty vessel in her grasp, horror returning to her features.

Takeshi, growing angrier with each bolt blasted as he thought of Alexianna, managed to create an extremely powerful bolt that hit Stephanie in the middle of her stomach and electrocuted her for a while, frying her to a crisp, and she fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Jeff had flung countless rocks at Zebel and was growing tired when he found an extremely large rock near Aki and Satoshi. He used all his strength to fling it straight into Zebel's form, and knocked him back successfully. The rock pined Zebel to the ground, trapping him.

"Is that all you have Ganseki? Is that all you can do?" Zebel tried to taunt, spitting blood as close to Jeff as he could.

Jeff clenched his jaw, "You want more?" Jeff grabbed Zebel's face and squeezed it as hard as he could, rousing a shout of pain from the Soul Piece. Jeff then conjured a slab of rubble and with his last bit of strength, slammed it straight into his enemy's face, knocking him out for good.

Hino's wind calmed once Zebel was out, until it came to a complete stop. All was calm and peaceful until the others slowly noticed, one by one, Ryuusei's cold, grey form resting on Setsuka's arms.

It was the first time anyone there had seen a tear leave Setsuka's eye.

END

_**I'm a morbid soul, I know. What're you gonna do? Please review! Second Arc is starting soon, so I'm re-opening OC submission! REVIEW!**_


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